The High Court has temporarily blocked the sale of a bungalow near Rhode, County Offaly, until adjoining farmland is sold and the proceeds are assessed against the outstanding mortgage debt and receivership costs.
Margaret Stones sought an interlocutory injunction against receiver John Coulston and Everyday Finance DAC concerning lands at Ballystrig beside the R441. The properties comprise a bungalow on about 1.13 acres and almost 33 acres of farmland containing farm buildings and a partially completed house.
There was no dispute over Everyday’s security, the receiver’s appointment or their power to sell. The dispute concerned whether the proposed sales process risked achieving less than the best price reasonably obtainable.
The court found shortcomings in aspects of the receiver’s handling of the process. These included the absence of roadside sale signs and a failure to properly engage with an offer from Ms Stones to provide documents relating to the bungalow tenancy.
The bungalow was occupied by a tenant under the Rental Accommodation Scheme. The receiver had also served a notice seeking to end that tenancy from September 2025 on the basis that he intended to sell with vacant possession. The court held that the bungalow could not simply be sold inconsistently with that position without the receiver addressing the consequences.
However, the judge rejected several other complaints, including the argument that relatively low advertised minimum values would necessarily depress auction prices.
The decisive issue was sequencing. Valuations of the farmland ranged from €170,000 to €450,000, while the secured loan balance was stated at about €143,000 plus receivership costs. The judge found a reasonable prospect that selling the farmland alone could clear the debt.
The defendants were therefore restrained from selling the bungalow until the farmland sale proceeds are calculated. If a shortfall remains, the court will consider allowing the borrowers an opportunity to pay it before a second sale proceeds.