Cork estates left in limbo over council's 'take in charge' issue

'The cost of addressing the issues in some estates could be around €150,000 but in some of the larger estates, we could be looking at a spend of up to €1m.'

Thousands of households in Cork City are paying property tax but can't get potholes fixed because their estates have yet to be 'taken in charge' by the local authority.

Emergency government funding may now be required to help address the outstanding issues in at least 70 affected housing estates where residents are living in this legal limbo.

Cork City Council has agreed to undertake a city-wide audit to identify the affected estates, and to cost the specific issues that need to be addressed to bring each of them up to the required standard for taking in charge.

Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan, who raised the issue at the November meeting of the city council, said the taking-in-charge issue needs to be tackled head-on — especially in the wake of the 2019 city boundary extension when dozens of former county estates transferred to the city's administrative area.

“The cost of addressing the issues in some estates could be around €150,000 but in some of the larger estates, we could be looking at a spend of up to €1m,” he said.

“But we have to do it. The people in all of these affected estates pay their local property tax and yet they aren't entitled to have as much as a bulb changed in a streetlight. That’s just wrong.” 

Developers lodge a bond with a local authority before starting a housing development, and it is retained until the development has been completed to the required standard, in accordance with the planning permission, and to the satisfaction of the local authority.

When a local authority takes a development in charge, it takes responsibility for the maintenance of the common areas, including all roads, footpaths, green areas,  water connections, and sewer or drainage services, as well as public lighting and street cleaning.

In some cases — for example, where building firms collapsed mid-development or where an estate was not finished properly — the bond has not always covered the cost of finishing the work and estates have not been taken in charge by the local authority.

This has left residents of those estates in legal limbo over who is responsible for maintaining or repairing the public areas. Many of those estates have fallen into disrepair. 

The issue can also cause confusion and problems when buying or selling a property.

Mr Boylan said while the reasons for not taking an estate in charge are varied, it most often occurs when the outstanding works required to bring the estates up to standard cannot be funded by the bond left in place by the original developer.

He accused Cork County Council of “ignoring" certain areas and of not doing work, of not taking estates in charge, for up to two years before the boundary extension, and of leaving the city to deal with the matter.

He said this is all happening in the context of the city having to pay index-linked compensation to the county arising out of the boundary extension for up to 10 years.

City officials will conduct an audit to identify the estates involved where “a scope of works” is required to bring them up to a "taking in charge acceptable standard".

“The council can then make a submission to central government where applicable to source the funding required to carry out the necessary works,” officials said.

A report will be presented to councillors when the audit is complete.