ACC seizes Ballinagh development

ACC Bank has seized unsold houses in the Ardkill Place development of 65 homes and a creche in Ballinagh, as the property downturn resulted in the Drumlish-based developer Leatime Construction defaulting on bank loans, writes Linda O"Reilly. The company, owned by Longford builders Larry Keogh and Philip Mullins, was unavailable for comment yesterday, as its head office phone rang out several times. The bank appointed a receiver in an attempt to secure some €20m that ACC advanced to the company in loans. It"s understood that Bank of Ireland is also owed money by Leatime. The development in Ballinagh was reported to be among three of the company"s to be seized, including a 35-house estate in Drumlish, Longford and a similar development in Dromad, Leitrim. A spokesman for ACC Bank told the Anglo-Celt: 'It"s correct to say that a receiver was appointed for the development in Ballinagh, but incorrect in relation to those in Longford or Leitrim. The story published at the weekend was not accurate in relation to Longford/Leitrim.' Declan Taite, insolvency partner with accountancy firm FGS, was installed as receiver over the company"s assets in the Ballinagh development. He will consider options in the coming days, before deciding on how to realise the most value from the houses for ACC. The news has shocked the Ballinagh community, where many people consider the Ardkill Place houses of high quality. One local, who did not wish to be named, said about half of the houses had already been purchased, including a number by the local authority for social and affordable houses. These houses are unaffected by the seizure. The remaining houses and the creche, still in the ownership of Leatime Construction, have been seized. According to Leatime"s most recent accounts, the firm had stocks valued at €13.6m at the end of March 2007, but owed close to €15m. In the first half of this year, Irish financial institutions have appointed receivers over the assets of 23 companies, up five on the same period last year. Meanwhile, Courts Service figures reveal that lending institutions have already lodged 608 possession applications for mortgaged properties this year. This does not include properties that were voluntarily relinquished. The downturn in the property market has resulted in a 30 per cent drop in the average price of new homes in the last 12 months. The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) says 20,000 new homes will be built next year but many are primarily for local authority social housing and one-off housing.