Ask our experts for advice on your property problems
What will the new National Property Price Register mean to me?
Q I’M THINKING OF buying a house after the summer and just read about this new house price database. Does that mean I will be able to look up the prices of any house I like? Even one that I might think about buying?
A The Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 provides for the establishment of a National Property Price Register. The property register will detail the actual selling prices of properties sold since January 2010 and, according to recent reports, the database will be available to the public in June of this year.
This is a very welcome development and should provide the public with more transparency in relation to the actual selling prices of property which was restricted due to data protection legislation. It should also provide more accurate information in relation to trends in the property market than is currently available.
The Act will also provide for the establishment of the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) on a statutory basis (see npsra.ie) and it is my understanding that this body will oversee the administration of the House Price Register.
It will also license and regulate property management agents (for the first time) as well as estate agents/auctioneers. This level of regulation is long overdue in the market and should provide the public with assurance that they are dealing with a qualified professional who is regulated on a statutory basis.
In terms of whether you will be able to look up the prices of any house you like or are considering buying, our understanding is that you will only be able to get the details of sales from January 2010 onwards as the register will only go back to this date, so it will depend on when the property was sold.
You should bear in mind however that, while the legislation was signed into law by the President before Christmas, commencement orders have yet to be signed by the Minister to make the PSRA fully operational on a statutory basis and this may affect the date of the publication of the Property Price Register and property selling prices.
Ed Carey is a chartered surveyor and chair of the Residential Property Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. See scsi.ie
Is it worth applying insulation to the portion of my garage wall that backs on to my livingroom?
Q MY GARAGE IS part of my house: would it be effective to put insulation on the interior garage wall that backs on to my livingroom? This room only gets sun in the early morning and is colder than other parts of the house and has only one exterior wall (where the window is). Could I then just leave the insulation without plastering it?
A It would certainly be appropriate to insulate the wall between the garage and the livingroom, and this could be carried out on the garage side. It is important that the board you use to insulate the wall has a class O fire resistance. I would suggest you use an insulated plasterboard. This would protect the insulation on the garage side, and the product is designed to be applied directly to a masonry wall. Most such boards can be fixed with plaster dabs or adhesive, minimising any disturbance to the existing fabric.
There are a number of suitable products from different manufacturers. The lower the thermal conductivity, the better insulation will be provided.
In installing the boarding, it is important to avoid creating cold bridges – uninsulated sections of wall – as you could have problems with condensation and mould at these locations in the future and it would be worth procuring the services of a qualified professional.
Krystyna Rawicz is a chartered building surveyor and member of the Building Surveying Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie
Can I question my management fees?
Q I OWN AN apartment in Dublin city centre and am currently in arrears with my management fees. I have been very unhappy with the level of service provided and their inability to give an adequate account of how our fees are being spent.
For example, one of the itemised expenses on last year’s budget was “landscaping, tree-cutting and removal – €2,000”. This is a street of terraced houses with neither trees, gardens, nor green areas (they then said it was for tidying and picking up litter). I have had no satisfactory response to my raising a number issues over the past six months.
I have, however, received demands for unpaid management fees, with threats that my apartment will be removed from the block insurance policy, legal proceedings will begin to recover costs and an application will be made for the forfeiture of my lease allowing the management company to obtain possession of my property. How should I proceed?
A I recommend in the first instance that you find out who the directors of your Owners Management Company (OMC) are, make contact with them and discuss your concerns about the level of service being provided by the managing agent.
If you don't know who the directors of your OMC are, you can find this information on the Companies Registration Office website, cro.ie.
You don’t mention if you attended the last AGM. If you are not getting a satisfactory response from your agent this is the ideal forum to have the vast majority of your queries raised and hopefully addressed by the directors present.
It provides an opportunity to meet the other owners, to discuss your mutual ideas and concerns and to be involved in resolving the issues.
The new Multi-Unit Developments (MUD) Act 2011 requires much greater transparency and information on service charges, including a full breakdown of the services being provided.
These charges must then be approved by the owners, including you, at a general meeting. Other things that must be approved at the general meeting are the annual contribution to your sinking fund and any one-off levies such as the €200 you are now required to pay for a new alarm system, which I assume is to upgrade the fire safety systems.
A professional managing agent will ensure that all information is provided to you and in accordance with professional standards. The Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) will now, for the first time, license and regulate property managing agents operating in the multi-unit sector which will help ensure greater consumer confidence in the quality and professionalism of the agents that OMCs appoint to their developments. See npsra.ie
You don’t mention how long you have withheld payment of service charges. Withholding the service charge payment due is not the answer to your dissatisfaction with the managing agent.
Non-payment of the service charge means that other unit owners must effectively subsidise your portion of the annual budget for the day-to-day funding of the services of your development.
Regarding the threats being made, your OMC has no right to remove your apartment from the insurance cover but your annual service charge funds the premium and your non-payment may impede cover generally.
Your OMC, if provided for in the lease, can charge you interest for non-payment and this cost adds to your debt and the charge against your property which, without payment, cannot be sold.
However, you should bear in mind that any legal costs to the OMC will ultimately be borne by all of the owners in the development via the budget provision.
It appears to me that you are in a stressful situation and my advice is to engage with the managing agents in relation to the payment plan offered, to voice your concerns at the next AGM and try to find a satisfactory solution either with the current managing agents or a new agent depending on the views of the directors of the OMC.
Siobhán O'Dwyer is a chartered surveyor and chair of the Property Facilities Management Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie
Send your queries to propertyquestions@irishtimes.comor to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2.
This column is a readers’ service.
Advice given is general and individual advice should always be sought
