Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
61. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he will report on the vacant homes action plan with details across the country of the repair and lease scheme, compulsory purchase of vacant homes and the vacant site levy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1386/19]
View answer103. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he is satisfied that the vacant site levy is working to its full potential in its current format; his views on whether site owners are utilising loopholes in the legislation to avoid paying the tax; his plans to amend the legislation with a view to tightening up the definition of a vacant site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1475/19]
View answer105. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on whether local authorities are not utilising their powers under the compulsory purchase order to supply land for social and affordable housing; his further views on whether certain local authorities appear to be ignoring their requirement under the legislation enacting the vacant site levy; his plans to issue a new circular with regard to the vacant site levy to local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1478/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 103 and 105 together.
All local authorities have drawn up Vacant Homes Action Plans to identify the scale of vacant residential homes and to set ambitious but realistic targets for the number of vacant homes that can be brought back into use. In addition, each local authority now has a dedicated Vacant Homes Office, whose work includes establishing a co-ordinated approach towards the implementation of their Vacant Homes Action Plans. I have also published the National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy, containing a range of objectives and key actions which will be pursued in partnership with stakeholders across the housing sector to address vacancy in our housing stock. It draws together the strands of ongoing work in one document with a clear vision for the areas to be prioritised for continued action.
My Department and local authorities have already been proactive in dealing with vacant properties and there are a number of schemes available to incentivise reactivating suitable dwellings into the liveable housing stock. While the initial national rollout of the innovative Repair and Lease Scheme did not yield as much progress as hoped for, the scheme was reviewed and improvements were made to render it more effective. Up to end Q3 2018, a total of 1,214 applications had been received under the scheme from property owners; 48 homes had been brought back into use and were tenanted; and a further 122 agreements for lease had been signed. In addition, over 250 social housing homes have been delivered to date through the buy & renew scheme, including some properties that may have initially been considered under the repair and leasing scheme.
In relation to compulsory purchase, the approval or confirmation of proposals for the compulsory purchase of land is a matter for An Bord Pleanála. In this connection, the 2017 Annual Report of the Board - the latest report available - outlines that there was an increase in the number of compulsory acquisition cases coming before the Board. Much of this increase was attributable to the increased use of CPO powers by local authorities to acquire individual vacant or derelict houses for social housing purposes, which is a positive development.
The use of CPO powers by local authorities to acquire land specifically for social and affordable housing is not presently a notable feature of local authorities' housing delivery programmes with the primary focus currently being on the use of existing local authority or State-owned land banks for this purpose. Instead, where local authorities have been using their CPO powers to acquire land for housing related purposes, it has been more focused on the acquisition of land to facilitate the provision of site access and other enabling infrastructure to support the development of housing schemes through the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF).
In relation to the vacant site levy, planning authorities are empowered under the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) to apply a vacant site levy of 3% of the market value of relevant vacant sites where a site exceeds 0.05 hectares in area, was in the planning authority’s opinion vacant or idle in the previous year, and is in an area identified by the planning authority in its development plan or local area plan for residential or regeneration development. As signaled in Budget 2019, the rate of the levy has been increased to 7%, which will be payable for the first time in January 2020 in respect of sites listed on a local authority vacant site register for 2019.
My Department has actively engaged with local authorities in relation to the implementation of the vacant site levy in order to ensure the consistent application of the levy provisions by all local authorities and to facilitate the sharing of best implementation practice. My Department has also provided detailed guidance on the implementation of the levy and organised information seminars for local authorities in this regard.
While my Department does not maintain a central register of vacant sites, as each local authority administers the vacant site register in respect of their own functional areas, on foot of a recent review of the on-line vacant site registers across all local authority areas, it is understood that there are collectively over 380 individual sites currently listed on the local registers. Over 140 of these sites were entered on the local vacant site registers on 1 January 2018 and will therefore be subject to the levy at the 3% rate in 2019, unless development works were activated in the interim, with all sites listed on the local registers in 2019 being subject to the higher 7% levy in January 2020, unless development works have been activated in the meantime.
My Department will continue to monitor implementation of the levy to ensure that it is being effectively applied, in line with its intended purpose of incentivising the development of vacant or under-utilised sites in urban areas. In that context, my Department is currently examining the most recent progress reports received from local authorities in relation to the levy's implementation.
