I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend Part 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, which concerns the Vacant Site Levy; to increase the vacant site levy and make changes to some of the provisions of the levy; to allow owners of sites deemed vacant, the opportunity to enter into negotiations with the relevant Local Authority, or State Agency, to sell the site for a percentage of its value; and to provide for related matters.
I apologise for interrupting the Tánaiste's conversation. I know that he is interested in the issue of housing, given that he was in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government for a while.
I am conscious of the fact that it is not easy to run a country. We know from daily business in the House that there are many problems with how we do things, one of which is in how we supply housing. It is a big problem, whether it concerns homelessness, high rents, the supply of housing or affordability. In 2015 we had the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, part of which involved a vacant site levy. I argued at the time - it has since been borne out, whether people like to admit it - that the levy had been designed to fail and not to prevent or discourage landbanking. It has not done so. I know that it has not even been collected, but it has not affected the price of land being banked.
The Kenny report dates back to 1974. The truth of the matter is that no Government in the history of the State has had the courage to do what needs to be done to tackle landbanking. The vacant site levy brought forward was 3%. It has been increased to 7%, but there are so many holes in the scheme that it will not catch someone who is landbanking. I assure the Tánaiste that if I had 500 acres of land zoned for development and was landbanking it, I would not have to pay any tax while doing so because there are so many loopholes in the Act. I hope to receive the support of the Government and the Opposition for the Bill because I firmly believe it is in the interests of over 99% of the people of Ireland that we do something positive about the matter. I am conscious of section 43 and the challenges posed by it, but it is an initiative we need to have commenced at some stage.
The Bill seeks to amend Part 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015. It aims to increase the vacant site levy, make changes to some of the provisions related to it and allow owners of sites deemed to be vacant the opportunity to enter into negotiations with the relevant local authority or State agency to sell them for a percentage of their value. If enacted, the legislation will go a long way towards addressing the overall problem landbanking is creating in the State where housing is, generally, double the price of what it is in most countries in western Europe.
There are 13 sections contained in the Bill. I will briefly go through five of its main components. We will be introducing the Bill on 3 July.
Section 4 will tighten the conditions on what constitutes a vacant or idle site. A site will be deemed to be vacant if planning permission for a development has exceeded 12 months and no commencement notice for development has been issued, or where a commencement notice for a development has been issued and 36 months have elapsed without completion of the site. A site where an unauthorised use or development is occurring or a site which is being utilised on an authorised, temporary basis for an activity other than development will all be deemed to be vacant.
Section 11 will increase the vacant site levy from 3% to 25%. All exemptions for site owners will also be removed, regardless of whether there is a loan on the site. Under the 2015 legislation, if there was a mortgage on a site, the levy was reduced to either 1.5%, 0.75% or 0%, which made a nonsense of the Act. These exemptions will be removed. We will remove three of the four appeals allowed under the 2015 Act. A site owner will now only be allowed to make one appeal. The four appeals made a joke of the Act. The process could be dragged out for six or seven years because so many appeals were allowed.
Section 16(a) introduces an option for the owner of a site deemed to be vacant, prior to paying the 25% levy, to enter into negotiations with the relevant local authority or State agency to sell the site for up to 60% of its value if the relevant local authority or State agency deem the site to be viable for the supply of housing at the time.
I sincerely hope the Government will take a serious look at the Bill and support it.
