There was a Circular Letter issued to all planning authorities by the DoEHLG in February 2008 calling on them to fulfil their legal obligation to take in charge residential developments and only to promote the establishment of management companies in limited circumstances. As far as I know, each local authority was required to develop or update their policy on taking charge by the end of 2008, to ensure amongst other things, that developers complete residential developments to a standard that is in compliance with the planning permission granted either through securing bonds, inspection of construction and enforcement action if necessary.
I don’t know the full details on this, or how long it will take to have any affect, or whether it will help residents in developments which are already constructed and the developer has gone AWOL. Maybe someone else has more accurate information on this?