KENNY URGES DEVELOPERS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO DEAL WITH UNFINISHED ESTATES

Posted on June 9, 2011 12:12 PM   |   Permanent Link   

The Labour Party TD for Dublin North East, Seán Kenny, today agreed with calls by Minister for Housing and Planning, Willie Penrose TD upon developers and financial institutions be more pro-active in their approach to devising long-term solutions for unfinished housing developments.
The calls came in the wake of the publication of the final report from the Advisory Group, entitled Resolving Ireland's Unfinished Housing Developments.

Deputy Kenny said that the Minister was concerned at feedback from many local authorities around the country that, as they grapple with unfinished developments, getting positive engagement from developers, site owners and financial institutions responsible for the loans on such developments was proving very difficult.

Deputy Kenny agreed with Minister Penrose that the time had come for action to be taken. "I urge the key stakeholders involved in stalled or troubled developments on the ground, including the developers and the banks to act now and continue to work together with local authorities and residents bearing in mind that the priority is to address immediate safety issues to improve the lives of those residents in the most problematic of the estates.", he said.

"Minister Penrose and the Government are taking action with the first allocations of limited funding to redress critical public safety issues totaling almost €1.5m. This is exchequer money that would have to be eventually repaid by developers and site owners. The funding should ensure that urgent action is taken in relation to matters of public safety and critical issues that are seriously affecting residents in the most problematic of the unfinished developments across the country.", Deputy Kenny added.

Deputy Kenny went on to say that the Minister would be maintaining oversight of how actively developers and financial institutions were co-operating with local authorities in considering what further support is needed in terms of legislation or regulations, including direct engagement with the banking sector in co-operation with the relevant divisions of the Department of Finance.

Deputy Kenny went on to say that that the outline the key findings of the Group's Final Report build on the interim findings of the group published in February and present a detailed list of recommendations which can be broadly categorised under the following headings:


  • Driving a more co-ordinated and partnership approach between stakeholders;

  • Tackling public safety as an immediate priority;

  • Putting in place a stronger legislative and policy framework to incentivise real engagement by developers, site owners and funders in working with local authorities and residents in resolving unfinished housing developments;

  • Building confidence in the housing sector.

"Having considered the report and its recommendations closely, Minister Penrose also published his response regarding actions and measures required to be taken in respect of the Final Report's conclusion", Deputy Kenny stated, outlining a summary of these steps:

  • Establishment of a National Co-ordination Committee to oversee the implementation of action on unfinished developments and to monitor and drive progress, to be chaired by Minister Penrose;
  • Formal protocols for liaison between the various stakeholders; developers, financial institutions; residents; local authorities; approved housing bodies and the Department, should be put in place to facilitate the sharing of information. This should be included in the proposed Code of Practice on Unfinished Developments;
  • Resolution of public safety and other critical issues e.g. public lighting, drainage etc., that are having a serious impact on the living conditions and quality of life for residents of unfinished developments should be dealt with as a matter of urgency;
  • Prioritisation by local authorities of a number of developments to act as lead projects to demonstrate what can be achieved;
  • Implementation of the best practice Guidance Manual on Managing and Resolving Unfinished Housing Developments, which will be published later this month together with the Code of Practice (currently being finalised by the Department), which will set out ways of resolving unfinished developments.