COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SDZ, LAPS AND PLANNING PROJECTS
Thursday, January 23, 2020
MOTION NO.15
MOTION: Councillor Teresa Costello
Special Council Meeting to Consider the Draft Tallaght Town Centre Local Area Plan
That SDCC, arising out of its experience with previous apartment complexes, (in terms of failed management companies) with the subsequent consequences for residents, failure of management of common areas, failure of adequate security around underground carparks; that SDCC outlines in the LAP what measures it intends to take to ensure that these failures and inadequacies are not repeated in the central Tallaght area.
REPORT:
The management of private housing developments is primarily a matter for the developers and residents of those developments. The ownership and management of the common areas of multi-unit developments are regulated under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011. Amongst other matters, the Act provides that before a developer sells any units:
- An owners' management company must be set up, and
- The common areas of the development must be transferred to the owners' management company to manage.
Management companies must also comply with company law. The main piece of company law in Ireland is the Companies Act 2014.
Under the ‘Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments: Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ (2018) consideration of the long-term running costs and the eventual manner of compliance of the proposal with the Multi-Unit Developments Act, 2011 are matters which should be considered as part of any assessment of a proposed apartment development.
Accordingly, planning applications for apartment developments shall include a building lifecycle report, which in turn includes an assessment of long term running and maintenance costs as they would apply on a per residential unit basis at the time of application, as well as demonstrating what measures have been specifically considered by the proposer to effectively manage and reduce costs for the benefit of residents.
RECOMMENDATION:
No further amendment required as clarification on the matter has been provided.