Getting rid of a management company

Residents in Castlecurragh are within sight of making history and setting a precedent around the contentious issue of management companies in housing estates.

If residents sign and return their legal documents by March 19th, then Castlecurragh will be the first estate in the country where residents have disentangled themselves from the legal contracts which bind them into a management company.

When the estate was established – even though most of the houses are traditionally built “own door” homes, Fingal County Council sought to have services provided through a management company rather than through the council itself as is the norm for such estates throughout the county.

Arguing that they were entitled to receive the same services from the county council as neighbouring estates, the residents’ association began a campaign to change the situation. Partly as a result of the Castlecurragh campaign, Fingal County Council has now adopted a policy that such estates will receive the usual public services while management companies should only cover services to apartment blocks.

“The management company had become an albatross on the backs of our estate,” said Helen Redwood, chairperson of the residents’ association. “The houses don’t see the need for it and apartment and duplex owners can benefit from something smaller and more manageable to match their own needs.”

According to Ms. Redwood, “this has been a five-year-long battle. We were initially told that it was impossible for houses to get out of the management company but we forced the Council to recognise that a legal mechanism could be found. Every owner on the estate has now received legal documents to sign which will enable houses to be released and for the management company to be downsized to deal solely with services for the apartments and duplexes. We have created a legal precedent for residents in other estates seeking to find a way out of their own management company.”

One more hurdle remains to be crossed to achieve what at one time seemed unthinkable. All residents in the estate must now complete and return the legal documents that have been delivered to all houses on the estate.

“I am concerned that residents realise that it is absolutely crucial for them to sign and return the documents by March 19th. It would be a travesty for us to miss this opportunity to restructure when other estates up and down the country are battling to find a way out of what are often exhorbitant management fees and management companies that they feel offer no great benefit,” said Ms. Redwood.

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