Apartment Living in Ireland

I recently bought a second-hand house in a private gated estate. On the plans and in the sales brochure it was clearly stated that it is a one bedroom dwelling with a storage area. The storage area is a very small box room. My first service charge invoice arrived last week with charges for a two bedroom dwelling! When I contacted the Management Company they told me that is the way it has always been with my unit. What can I do? I never imagined I would have to pay so much in service charges.

In response to the earlier posted question

I’m living in a complex of 44 new apartments but only 24 are sold. As a result we are running out of funds so I’m wondering whether its up to the builder to cover the remainder of the maintenance costs until the remaining apartments are sold.

Unless there are specific provisions in your lease with regard to this issue, in my experience, the builder is under no obligation to cover the budget short fall. Some builders are prepared to contribute towards a budget shortfall which arises due to the fact that some of the apartments haven’t sold. There are others, however, who refuse point-blank to contribute anything.

If your builder will not contribute, the owners will have to make up the shortfall. Your Managing Agent should approach the builder. If he refuses to do so you should form an ad-hoc committee and approach the builder as a group.

This problem has only begun to arise over the past two years and I think it’ll turn into a major issue for a lot of recent apartment buyers. Previously, most apartments sold very quickly - usually off the plans before a brick was even laid. But not any more. I’m not aware of any legal precedent for taking a developer to court on this matter, but you might like to talk to your solicitor to get his or her opinion.

Welcome to the apartmentlivininireland weblog. This blog will be a forum for apartment owners & occupiers, managment companies and managing agents and any other interested party, to discuss issues related to apartment living in Ireland. We look forward to your comments and questions.