My Department provided comprehensive updated guidance to local authorities in relation to the operation of development bonds and securities on new developments as recently as June 2013. This guidance – which can be found on my Department’s website http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,34916,en.pdf - provided advice on updated practice on:
- the types of securities to be applied in respect of new development;
- the requirements for adequate securities to be put in place to ensure the satisfactory completion of all relevant infrastructure associated with a development so that it can be handed over to a local authority or management company on completion;
- the default events such as non-compliance with the conditions of a planning permission, or the bankruptcy or liquidation of a developer, to trigger the calling in of the security;
- the arrangements regarding the use of securities in phased developments;
- the assessment by planning authorities of security mechanisms proposed by developers and the standardised wording that might be used by planning authorities in the drawing up of such bond securities;
- the approaches to be used in the computation of bonds having regard to the various sizes of developments and the infrastructural requirements therein; and
- the release of bonds on the satisfactory completion of a development.
The application of this guidance is essentially an enforcement matter for planning authorities but I propose to further examine how the arrangements regarding bonds and securities might be better operated in practice to ensure the more streamlined completion and taking in charge of developments.