The High Court awarded a total of €1,099,070 to three sets of homeowners over extensive defects in houses at Strandhill, Co Sligo, after assessing damages against defendants who had not defended the claims. The claims against the National House Building Guarantee Company, known as Homebond, remained pending and were stood over.
Mr Justice Hogan delivered the judgment on 6 February 2014 in three sample cases. Default judgments had been entered against Mulvey Developments Ltd, Thomas Mulvey and Design Development Ltd, and a default judgment against engineer Stephen Garvey was given in May 2013. The court’s task in these cases was to assess damages. It had earlier dismissed the claim against Robert Mulvey, finding he was a land vendor with no role in construction.
The properties were part of a development built between 2004 and 2005. The judge described widespread defects and breaches of building regulations. Evidence included water ingress, cracking, inadequate insulation and defective plumbing. In the Adams and Deasy home, engineers found loose clay fill and builders’ debris beneath part of the foundations. Their engineer estimated that about 40 per cent of the foundations had unsuitable fill, while a quantity surveyor estimated repairs at €247,805.
The court awarded Michael and Margo Mitchell €424,090. That included €202,090 for repairs, €18,000 for unsuccessful repair work already paid for, €24,000 for moving out during a year of repairs, and €180,000 for distress and inconvenience.
Mary Brett was awarded €250,175, including €120,175 for repairs, €5,000 for past repairs, €5,000 for rent and inconvenience during four months of work, and €120,000 for distress, anxiety and loss of expectation over two periods.
Ciarán Adams and Niamh Deasy were awarded €424,805. The award included €160,000 for distress and inconvenience, €247,805 for repairs, €12,000 for alternative accommodation, and €5,000 for wasted repair costs.
The judge said it was unclear whether the awards would be enforceable in practice. Homebond’s claims were not decided in this judgment: those proceedings were adjourned pending the damages assessment. The judge said he would send the decision to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the chair of the Oireachtas environment committee for consideration of the policy issues it raised.