Report on Multi-Unit Developments - Law Reform Commission

company. Even where developers choose to retain units in the development for
their own use, they will continue to have votes only in their capacity as unit
owners.
4.38 As each unit is sold, the beneficial interest the developer continues to
hold is incrementally reduced until, once the sale of the final unit is completed,
the final vote the developer held in the owners‘ management company is
handed over to the purchaser. 38 Registering the legal interest in the
development and transferring title to the owners‘ management company from
the outset of the development means that completion of the development is
related solely to the structural completion which rightly is separated from
conveyancing and title issues.
4.39 Furthermore, the Commission‘s recommendations will avoid
complications which currently arise where there is no clear indication as to
when the transfer to the owners‘ management company will take place.
(3) Retention by the owners’ management company of a portion of
the purchase price
4.40 Where developers transfer the legal title of the development before
the development is properly snagged, it is arguably more difficult to compel
them, from a purely practical viewpoint, to deal with any unresolved snagging
problems, 39 notwithstanding the availability of both private and planning law
enforcement options. 40 In realistic terms, enforcement through either private or
planning law can be both lengthy and highly inconvenient. Indeed, serious
delays may also take place in the completion of the development which in a
strictly technical sense is acceptable under the planning laws as planning
conditions typically allow up to five years from the permission being granted to
complete the development. 41 As noted elsewhere, this can have a seriously
deleterious effect on the quality of living environment of unit owners in the
development. The Commission has therefore examined ways in which there
would be a more immediate inducement for a developer to complete a
38
This will be subject to the restrictions on the owners‘ management company
during the development stage, as set out in Chapter 3 above.
39
The National Consumer Agency recommend that a snag list should be
commissioned by the developer from an independent architect or engineer and
that the developer would be obliged to deal with any matters arising to the
satisfaction of the management company within three months of completion of
the last unit within the development; see ibid.
40
See Chapter 1: Sustainability of Multi-Unit Developments.
41
S.40, Planning and Development Act 2000.
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