Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 July 2014
456. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason in the case of an estate (details supplied) in County Cork some of the properties are exempt from the property charge and some are not. [32407/14]
View answerUnder Section 10 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, an exemption from liability can arise for properties located in developments prescribed on a list made by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, where the Minister is satisfied that the developments on the list are incomplete to a substantial extent, having regard to the condition of public infrastructure and amenities, including access, water services, public lighting and amenity areas. An 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 survey was carried out over the course of summer 2012 by my Department in conjunction with local authorities and the Housing Agency. 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 Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013.
Only part of the development in question was deemed to be in “seriously problematic condition” by Cork County Council and this part of the development was subsequently listed in the Schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013 and therefore benefits from an exemption from the Local Property Tax.
