‘Urgent’ dispute over completed apartments enters fast-track commercial list

An “urgent” dispute between a developer and Meath County Council over a refusal to issue compliance documents for 24 homes that are otherwise ready for occupation has been admitted to the High Court’s fast-track commercial list.

The local authority told Mr Justice Denis McDonald on Monday that it agreed with developer Coreet Limited that the case was urgent, as prospective occupants have been identified from its housing list but cannot move in until the legal snag is resolved.

Jarlath Fitzsimons SC said the council was consenting to Coreet’s application for the matter to be entered into the commercial list and for the court to assign an urgent hearing date at the start of the next legal term in January.

The court heard the dispute relates to the proper interpretation of a section of the Building Control Regulations.

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Coreet claims the council has adopted the belief that, due to an earlier administration default on the part of the developer, the law prevents it from issuing a certificate of readiness for the Drogheda apartment block.

The company, which has registered offices at Herbert Place, Dublin 2, has acknowledged it was in default by not submitting a “Seven Day Notice” to the local authority a week before it started works at the site.

It says the council came to the view that the only way to rectify a late filing of a works commencement notice was for the Beamore road properties to be demolished, a new commencement notice filed and the units rebuilt.

Mr Justice McDonald acknowledged the urgency of the case and admitted the matter to the expedited list. He assigned a hearing date in mid-January 2023.

The other respondents in the case, Ireland, the Attorney General and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, through their counsel Douglas Clarke SC, consented to the matter being admitted to the commercial list.

In legal documents, Coreet says that when the late filing was flagged in October 2020 it ceased works and communicated with the council with a view to regularising its position.

The council subsequently deemed its regularisation certificate application to be valid, but it would not grant this certificate until all works were completed. No further issue was raised over the course of the building works that had resumed and which the council was aware of, says the developer.

In a May 2022 meeting, Meath Co Council said that, due to the delayed notice, there is no mechanism to register the block on the Building Control Management System or a route to bypassing this requirement, Coreet claims.

Coreet says the apartments are fully constructed and the only impediment to immediate occupation is the council’s refusal to register the certificate of compliance.

The developer wants the court to quash this refusal and make various declarations that would allow the certificate to be issued.

If the council’s alleged contention is correct, Coreet asks the court to strike down the Building Control Regulations and declare the legislation is inconsistent with constitutional property rights.