Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 May 2013
481. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a housing estate (details supplied) in County Kerry will be included in the list of exempted estates for the property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23732/13]
View answerAn exemption from the local property tax applies to developments listed in the schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013. The list of unfinished housing developments eligible for the exemption was compiled by local authorities utilising the categorisation employed for the purposes of the National Housing Survey 2012. The specific development referred to is not on the prescribed list. The Survey was carried out over the course of summer 2012 by my Department in conjunction with local authorities and the Housing Agency. The categorisation methodology for the survey was different to that which was used in 2011 and which provided the basis for the waiver from the household charge. That earlier categorisation related largely to the level of on-site activity at the time the 2011 survey was carried out and had less to do with the physical character of a development. The 2012 survey was based purely and objectively on the actual state of completion of a development, and established that there were 1,700 unfinished developments, with 1,100 of them deemed to be in a seriously problematic condition. This represents a 37% reduction in unfinished developments since 2010.
Only developments that were deemed by local authorities to be in a "seriously problematic condition", regardless of whether a developer was on or off site, were included in the LPT regulations.
In defining areas within developments that were deemed to be of a seriously problematic condition, local authorities gave consideration to those areas that were incomplete, with roads, public lighting infrastructure, open space or water services being so defective that the relevant development was in a seriously problematic condition from the point of view of living standards for residents.
For purposes of preparing the final list of developments to which the exemption from the local property tax would apply local authorities were asked by my Department to confirm or update the then existing list of estates in a "seriously problematic condition" as appropriate. Decisions in relation to the inclusion or exclusion of particular estates were therefore a matter for individual local authorities according to criteria set by my Department. Using the returns provided by all local authorities a list of housing developments was prepared, and prescribed under the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013 for exemption.
