Share your experiences of defects in apartments and duplexes in Westmeath

THE Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, has today made a final call for homeowners, landlords, directors of owners’ management companies and property management agents throughout Westmeath to share their experiences of housing defects relating to fire safety, structural safety and water ingress in purpose-built apartment and duplex buildings constructed between 1991 and 2013.

The deadline for completing the surveys is Monday, March 14.

These experiences are sought by the Independent Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing which was established by Minister O’Brien in February 2021.

Views are sought from people across Westmeath regardless of whether such defects in those properties are currently known, unknown or where no such defects have arisen.

Encouraging as many people as possible to participate in the survey before the March 14 deadline, Minister O’Brien emphasised: “Since this consultation was launched in late January there has been a very positive public response.

“Today, I’m making a final call to homeowners, landlords, directors of owners’ management companies and property management agents across Westmeath, who own or manage purpose-built apartments or duplex buildings constructed in Ireland between 1991 and 2013, to complete these surveys. We want you to complete them whether the property in question has defects or not, or if the presence of defects is not known.

”I understand the working group wants to hear in particular from owners’ management companies and property management agents of these types of properties as we know there is a significant number who have not yet responded to the survey.

“If you live in a duplex or purpose-built apartment complex in Westmeath, built between 1991 and 2013, we ask you to contact your owners’ management company to encourage them to participate.”

The working group will use the survey information to inform its report to the minister with particular regard to the following:

• the nature and scale of the issue of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects

• the difficulties that arise following the discovery of these defects

• the costs and levies associated with the remediation of the defects

Separate surveys for each stakeholder group are available at https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/7e319-online-survey-in-relation-to-defects-in-apartment-and-duplex-buildings/.