News NI Mid Ulster Reporter
Seana Quinn had never heard the term “unadopted” being used to describe a housing development until the issue arrived at her door.
The County Tyrone homeowner is only one of thousands of people across Northern Ireland impacted by the issue.
A housing development is defined as being unadopted when the roads or sewers are not maintained by the government, this often happens when they fail to meet a certain standard.
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said it is the responsibility of developers to provide roads and water infrastructure to an adoptable standard.
Concerns are being raised about what homeowners do when the money put up by developers will not cover the repairs or they have gone bankrupt.
Figures seen by News NI show that there are more than 1,800 unadopted housing developments across Northern Ireland, with the largest percentage in Mid Ulster.
A County Tyrone solicitor who represents a group of affected residents has described the problem as “a ticking time bomb” that needs to be addressed.
“It’s been a build-up of failures to properly regulate this issue for decades, to the point now where thousands of homeowners are left with a defective legal title and are unable to sell their houses,” said Conal McGarrity from PA Duffy solicitors.
“You have people with their life savings invested in these properties, and there’s currently no long-term solution, so it’s a very serious public interest issue.”
Mr McGarrity has issued judicial review proceedings against DfI.
He wants the department to intervene and adopt the development of Hunter’s Mill in Downpatrick.
“To be honest, things have been getting worse because some of the land is deteriorating to the point where the ground is sinking and falling away from the house,” said Darren Kearney, who owns a house in Hunter’s Mill.
“It’s having a huge effect on our lives; we feel trapped,”
In a statement, NI Water said it “empathised” with residents of Hunter’s Mill but that fixing the problem was a matter for the developer.
The company behind the development went financially insolvent after the houses were built in 2000.
A spokesperson for DfI said it had received “a pre-action protocol letter in relation to the Hunter’s Mill development and this is currently being considered”.
Why do roads and sewers need to be adopted?
Solicitors will often advise a client not to proceed with the purchase of a house in an unadopted development, and banks can be reluctant to mortgage the house.
When building houses, developers are required to put down a deposit, known as a bond.
This is meant to protect the interests of buyers by providing a source of funding to allow the government to complete the roads and sewers to an adoptable standard when the developer has failed to do so.
But in some cases of unadopted developments, the value of the bond is not enough to cover the cost of extensive repair works needed to bring it to an adoptable standard.
DFI said it has recently increased bond calculation rates and is seeking to fill vacancies within the private streets staffing structure.
It is also considering increasing private street fees to “fund a more proactive approach to inspection and management of the adoption process”.
Kildrum in Galbally, County Tyrone, is one of hundreds of unadopted developments in Mid Ulster.
Some residents said they feel left in limbo as part of the development remains unadopted.
Ms Quinn has lived there for more than 20 years and said the unadopted part of the development has crumbling kerbstones, potholes and looks run down.
“The place can look unsightly and unfinished, and it’s unfair when people have invested so much money into their family homes,” she said.
DfI say it is the responsibility of the developer to bring Kildrum “up to an adoptable standard”.
A DfI spokesperson added that in November 2024 it told the developer that if they fail to take action, the department would “undertake the necessary remedial works and draw down the funds from the associated bond”.
Since it was built, Kildrum has had a number of different developers.
The current developer was unavailable for comment.
Ms Quinn added: “We certainly never thought all these years later it would still be unresolved; there really should be stricter rules or regulations to protect homeowners.”
Deborah Erskine from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is working on a private members bill at Stormont that she hopes will offer homeowners more protection.
“Living in an unadopted development can be a very stressful situation and I think DfI should take on more responsibility to help people in this dreadful situation,” she told News NI.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA has firsthand experience of the issue as she lives in a housing development that is unadopted.
She added: “I actually think it gives me a good starting block to know the human cost of this issue on the thousands of people impacted by it.
“Some people might not even know they’re living in unadopted developments, but when things like potholes or water issues arise, that’s when the problems can start, so this needs highlighted and looked at.”
A spokesperson for DfI said it is developing new enforcement guidelines to deal with developers that “have not fulfilled their responsibility to provide infrastructure to an adoptable standard”.
