Norma Foley
Question:722. Deputy Norma Foley asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if the case of a housing estate (details supplied) will be investigated. [10404/20]
View answerTuesday, 9 June 2020
Questions (722)
Written answers
Section 10 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended), enabled the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to prescribe a list of unfinished housing developments to which an exemption from the local property tax applies. An exemption from the local property tax applies to developments listed in the Schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 91/2013).
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. Only developments (and parts of 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. These Regulations applied to 421 developments, comprising approximately 5,100 homes, which remain exempt from LPT.
In response to the specific matter in question, my Department has been in contact with Kerry County Council and my officials have been advised by the Council that the Estate was not included within the list of “unfinished housing estates” developments listed in the Schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013, as it did not meet the criteria for inclusion of a development or part thereof for Property Tax Waiver. Accordingly, the occupier of any house within the Estate is liable for the local property tax. I understand, however, that the Bond provider has relinquished the bond to Kerry County Council. The Council, with this funding, will now be arranging to have the outstanding works completed in the Estate.
There were a number of approaches adopted towards addressing the legacy of unfinished housing developments, including the development of Site Resolution Plans (SRPs) for the finalisation of works on site to render estates as habitable as possible and the launch of the Public Safety Initiative (PSI) to address immediate public safety issues. In addition, Budget 2014 contained a special provision, in the form of a targeted €10m Special Resolution Fund (SRF).
An Annual Progress Report was compiled and published every year from 2012 to 2018. These reports are available on the Department’s website. For ease of access, the most recent report published in February 2018 is available at the following link: https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/rebuilding-ireland/national-housing-development-survey/publication-2017-annual-progress
As outlined in the Annual Progress Report 2017 (link provided above), the number of unfinished housing developments has reduced by 91% from around 3,000 developments in 2010, to 256 developments in 2017. A list of unfinished housing estates can also be found under the ‘unfinished’ tab layer on the MyPlan website available at the following link: www.myplan.ie
Given the significant progress made, there are no plans at this time to revise the list of developments included in the Schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013, either by removing or adding developments to it. Local authorities will continue to assess the best options for resolution of unfinished developments and/or developments that are to be taken in charge.