Fire safety defects have been uncovered in one of the largest housing developments in the State following the purchase of €60m worth of the homes by a major build-to-rent investor.
The development at the old racecourse in Dublin’s Phoenix Park is due to include over 2,300 homes when it is completed. The defects relate to the first phase which was built between 2006 and 2008.
The Irish Examiner has learned that up to 550 apartments are affected by major deficiencies in fire stopping in the common areas of the apartment blocks. There are also defects in the individual apartments, for which individual owners are wholly responsible.
Owners have been told by the management company Phoenix Park Racecourse Development (PPRD) that they will also have to pay for the remedial work in the common areas in order to make the buildings safe.
Dublin Fire Brigade has confirmed that the fire officer has not been informed of the defects. In recent similar cases, the fire officer has instructed apartment owners to conduct remedial work in a tight timeframe under threat of the issuing of a fire safety order which could necessitate evacuation, as happened in Priory Hall in north Dublin in 2011.
The developer of the Phoenix Park Racecourse, Flynn & O’Flaherty, is still on site overseeing further phases of the development but has told the affected owners that they could see no basis to get involved in the cost of fixing the defects as “the apartment blocks were completed approximately 18 years ago”.
Legally, the developer is liable for defective work for only seven years after completion.
However, the defects were only discovered in 2021 following the purchase of 146 homes by the build-to-rent investor fundIres Reit. The fund conducted an audit following the purchase which uncovered the defects in both its newly acquired units and the common areas. Ires Reit paid an average of €411,000 per apartment for 146 homes, 120 of which were built in phase one. A spokesperson for the fund confirmed the defects in its apartments and says it has kept tenants fully informed of what has unfolded.
