Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 February 2014
167. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views regarding the passing on of local property tax by local authorities to local authority tenants by adding a charge to their rent. [7247/14]
View answerHousing authorities are responsible, under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, for determining the rents of their dwellings, subject to complying with broad principles laid down by my Department, notably that the rent payable should be related to income and that low-income households should pay a lower proportion of income in rent.
The current statutory basis for determining local authority rents will be repealed on the coming into force of section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, as amended by the Housing (Amendment) Act 2013. Section 31 rents will continue to relate to household income and composition, and will be set by the local authority in accordance with a rent scheme adopted by the elected members. Rent schemes must provide for matters set down in regulations that I intend to make under section 31 in the near future but councillors will, nonetheless, have a degree of discretion in specifying the parameters for rent setting in their schemes.
Neither section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 nor section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 allow for a specific levy or charge in respect of works or services provided otherwise than under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2013. However, these enactments do not prevent a housing authority from setting the amount of rent at a level that will generate funds to pay for, or contribute to payment of, the authority’s annual liability for Local Property Tax in respect of its residential properties.
