Property clinic

Ask our experts for advice on property queries

Does rising number of urban foxes scavenging for food pose a health danger?

Q I regularly come across foxes in my suburban neighbourhood – but recently I've started to see them earlier in the evening and they seem unconcerned by approaching humans. Should I be worried? Do they bring disease or are they harmless?

A s foxes become more common in urban areas, people’s attitudes to our bushy-tailed friends have changed somewhat. To most, they continue to be a treasured part of our wildlife, while others view them as a pest and scavengers who will eat anything. As you point out, some urban foxes have become more accustomed to people – we’ve even heard of one crossing the road at a busy traffic lights on the Lower Kilmacud Road in Dublin in the middle of the day – and this has made some people, particularly those with small children, a little more apprehensive.

Given that there are many food sources already available to foxes, they are not exactly dependent on us to care for them. However, if a fox is living near your garden it probably means he’s found a good food supply locally. Do you leave your wheelie bins open all the time or do you often find them toppled over?

If so, your new best friend may be helping himself to anything edible contained inside. This could cause the fox some health issues and, if you choose to feed it, the best advice might well be to secure the bins and follow some simple guidelines as suggested by Dublin SPCA.

It suggests leaving out dog food, cheese, boiled potatoes and cooked meat – without salt or other additives on it – bread, cooked vegetables or fat scraps. It’s important to leave this food out at dusk when the fox is most likely to call around; however, only leave enough for one meal as leftovers that go off can cause foxes to become ill.

Miriam Kerins, communications and public relations officer for Dublin SPCA, says the risk of catching any diseases from foxes is low. “Foxes are wary of humans and often run away; however, they can learn to trust people who help them. There is a danger of catching mange from foxes; however, the risk is low as direct contact is the most likely source of infection,” she says.

Other risk factors could come from roundworm (Toxocara canis), found in dog and fox excrement, which can cause toxocariasis in children. If you come across some faeces, put on gloves and remove it from your garden and dispose of it responsibly, as you would with your own family pet’s poo.

“If you have any concerns regarding potential health risks to humans from animals, contact your family doctor.”

James Rogers is editor of MyHome.ie

What can be done to silence noise from neighbouring semi-d? 

Q My friend bought a three-bedroom semi-detached house in a Co Dublin estate recently and paid just under €200,000. It is in excellent condition for an eight-year-old property – a good deal considering the original price of the house during the boom times.

However, a problem has arisen which was not mentioned during the sale, that of being able to hear all too clearly conversations from the neighbours side of the wall – not to mention a baby crying.

My friend wishes to do something about this noise and wonders what physical steps can be taken to reduce what has become a most unwelcome and unexpected irritation.

Are there soundproofing products on the market that can be applied to the separation wall that will not cause collateral damage to the house while being installed? Are they expensive?

A As building regulations require that a party wall shall have “adequate resistance to sound”, your friend’s house, built just eight years ago, should have been constructed in accordance with these regulations to reduce the passage of sound by a prescribed amount using methods of separation or weight and by eliminating direct paths for the sound to travel between the properties, depending on the construction method employed.

Assuming your friend’s neighbours are not noisy beyond reason and the construction conforms to the standards set, the noise difficulty could be complex to resolve. However, there are a number of potential methods available to solve the problem.

The party wall will usually belong to both properties, so firstly determine if your friends neighbours also suffer for the same problem in reverse. If so, the problem might be addressed jointly, thereby halving the costs.

In any event, a legal agreement should be reached with them before work on the wall starts that may affect it, possibly even a “works order” under section 45 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 if the neighbours object.

Secondly, you might ask your friend to enquire if similar neighbouring properties built by the same developer suffer from a similar difficulty? If so, then the construction method might be the source of the problem and a group solution might be sought.

There are several methods that your friend might employ to solve the problem from his side of the party structure such as a secondary “isolating” wall, absorbent insulation board such as Rockwool or a heavy plaster coating.

The costs could be up to €100 per sq m, possibly as much as €8,000 in a standard semi-detached house. Also, there is usually loss of space and considerable disruption with such methods.

Your friend should certainly determine the exact cause before embarking on possibly expensive and disruptive solutions. Unless the problem is readily apparent, it is advisable to make an appointment with a qualified building professional who will advise him on the exact costs and next steps in the case of his particular property.

Fergus Merriman is a chartered building surveyor and member of the Building Surveying Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie

Parking blocks our estate

Q We’ve a commuter parking problem in our estate, so much so in fact that only one car can pass at any one time on our roads. It’s annoying, not to mention dangerous for the local kids who can’t cycle their bikes. What can we do?

A The options available to you will depend on whether your estate roads are public or private. In other words, have the roads been taken in charge by the local authority and are therefore their responsibility, or are they private, forming part of the common areas of the estate and therefore the responsibility of your owners’ management company (OMC)? If you aren’t sure, you can find this out by talking to the directors of your OMC or checking the conditions of the planning permission granted for the development.

If the roads have been taken in charge by the local authority, you can report your concerns regarding the traffic congestion and the associated dangers. You should also consider the danger the congestion causes in obstructing access for emergency services such as the fire brigade and ambulance and ask that the local authority implement measures to ensure adequate access is maintained at all times.

If on the other hand the roads remain private and fall under the remit of your OMC, then the owners, through the board of directors, need to evaluate the inconvenience and dangers and the best way to eliminate or at least reduce them.

The most appropriate solution in this type of case will generally be to prohibit parking on the roadways or parts of them by painting double yellow lines or installing no parking signs. This usually requires monitoring and supervision by a clamping company, which will carry out random inspections. Another option to improve safety is traffic calming measures such as speed limit signage and speed ramps.

The design and layout of your development will need to be considered in terms of the practical suitability of the measures you wish to implement and their economic viability. Most importantly, your OMC will have to consider what is affordable within your current service charge budget.

The original design and granted planning conditions for your estate may have only mandated one car space per house/apartment and so, rather than commuters, some cars may actually be second or third cars belonging to owners or tenants who have insufficient parking spaces outside their own homes.

Therefore, when parking control measures such as those outlined above are introduced, it can create controversy and cause a great deal of upset and frustration to residents. It is advisable that whatever measures you decide to implement, that they be communicated openly and clearly to all residents.

The best solution would be for your OMC to include this issue on the agenda of an owner’s general meeting at which the full extent of the problems, as well as the possible solutions, can be discussed in an open forum. The resolutions can then be agreed upon and subsequently communicated via letter to all residents.

Siobhán O'Dwyer is a chartered surveyor and chairman of the Property Facilities Management Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie