Council withholds tens of thousands of euro from mica homeowner

A mica homeowner whose home has been rebuilt under the government's redress scheme has been denied a final payment worth tens of thousands of euro because he fell foul of a little-known time limit.

Charlie Gibbons, from the Isle of Doagh near Clonmany, moved into his almost complete home last August. With no rent allowance available, the family moved into the unfinished house to save money and spent the autumn working to complete it.

They submitted a raft of documents in January to draw down the final 10% instalment of the grant which the council withheld until it received a final 'certificate of completion'.

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Charlie and his wife Sarah were shocked to receive an email from Donegal County Council denying them their final payment because 65 weeks had elapsed since the rebuild commenced, and advising them of an appeals process through the Housing Agency.

“We thought we had the worst of it over us, that we'd cleared the final hurdle and were out the other side,” Mr Gibbons told the Inishowen Independent. “But to be hit with a denial of our final payment is a real kick in the teeth.”

Mr Gibbons fears that the Housing Agency's appeals process is already backlogged with hundreds of householders seeking reviews of their remediation downgrades, and that any appeal he lodges would go to the end of a very long queue.

He's raising the issue now to highlight this little known time constraint to other homeowners, and warns everyone whose home is under construction to consider seeking that 12 week extension to get their paperwork in order.

The Defective Concrete Blocks Act requires the final claim to be submitted within 65 weeks of the build commencing, and any request for an extension must be made 12 weeks beforehand. In effect, a householder must apply for an extension within 53 weeks of commencing their build – or they'll face into another bureaucratic labyrinth of appeals.

Mr Gibbons said the council had emailed him on 19 December 2023, outlining the 65 week deadline, but in amongst the voluminous correspondence it was missed.

“I'll hold my hands up and say it and email was sent to us, but it was overlooked. We didn't realise the importance of it and forgot about it,” Charlie acknowledged. “I missed the one email that gave the deadline, but I've asked whether there's not some solution other than going through a clogged up appeals process.

“This isn't a 'poor me, I haven't got my money' story. I fully expect to get my money in the end.

“This is to alert other people to this 65 week deadline.
“People can have builders waiting hard on that final payment, but if they miss this deadline and are sent into an appeals process, they mightn't see their money for a long time.”

Charlie runs his own tiling company, Barleymont Tiling, and knows the construction industry from the inside. He insists he's not scare-mongering but warns that builders will look at lengthy appeal delays on getting final payments with concern. The final payment is generally 10% of the overall total, and not all homeowners or builders are in a position to forgo that while an appeal trundles on.

He called on Donegal County Council to provide]e a 'countdown clock' on the home page of the online portal through which it communicates redress scheme participants, stating how many weeks are left before the 65 week time limit runs out.

“It shouldn't be hard to adapt that portal to provide an alert for a homeowner that they're coming close to deadline and may need to seek an extension,” he said.

“Homeowners need reminders. Myself and Sarah were reasonably well on top of this scheme and we missed it And there are other people who are going to be so stressed from day one and find those forms difficult to fill in that they'll miss it too.

“My case seems to be the first of these that's arisen, and once it is resolved it will probably provide the solution for others that come after it.”

He's hopeful that it can be dealt with outside the appeals mechanism and confident of getting the final payment, but he must wait and see.

“The council hasn't committed to anything. They've told me they're going to raise it with the Department and the Housing Agency, and see if a way around this roadblock that doesn't go through the appeals process can be found.

“An appeals process with a quick turnaround would be fine, but with so many appeals already in there over the downgrades, we're worried that it will be badly delayed.”