As part of the process of preparing the National Housing Development Survey 2011, published by my Department in October 2011, local authorities , including South Tipperary County Council, provided details of all unfinished housing developments in their areas. Unfinished housing developments were divided into four categories as follows: Category one, where the development is still being actively completed by the developer, or where no serious public safety issues exist; Category two, where a receiver has been appointed; Category three, where a receiver has not been appointed and the developer is still in place but effectively inactive; and Category four, where the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents.
This categorisation formed the basis for the list of those unfinished developments eligible for a waiver on the annual household charge. Only households in developments in categories three and four are eligible for the waiver from payment of the household charge. The list of developments in which households are eligible for the waiver in 2012 is set out under the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012.
While Longfield Park, Boherlahan, was classified as category three by the local authority when identifying unfinished estates as part of the 2011 National Housing Development Survey, it was omitted, in error, from the list of estates prescribed as qualifying for a waiver from the household charge 2012. There is no appeals procedure and no facility to amend the list once it has been prescribed. Consideration of the categorisation of this development will again arise in the context of the prescribed list for purposes of the waiver from the local property tax.
