Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
820. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of vacant residential properties in Ireland; and the amount of revenue that was generated by the vacant site levy in each of the past two years. [20691/21]
View answerMy Department does not hold data on the number of empty or unoccupied domestic dwellings in the State. In this connection, the Department is focused on ensuring that the existing housing stock is utilised to its fullest extent involving a targeted and coordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy across Ireland. In support of this, there are a number of schemes available to incentivise the reactivation of suitable dwellings into the liveable housing stock including the Repair and Lease Scheme and the Buy and Renew Scheme.
In relation to the vacant site levy, under the provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, planning authorities were empowered to apply a vacant site levy of 3% of the market valuation of relevant properties which were listed on local authority vacant site registers in 2018, which relevant owners were liable to pay in January 2019. The rate of the levy increased to 7% for sites listed on local authority vacant sites register from 2019 onwards which site owners became liable to pay in January 2020.
My Department proactively engages with local authorities with a view to ensuring that the vacant site levy achieves its full potential in terms of bringing concerned sites into productive use. In this connection, the Department issued Circular Letter PL 08/2020 on 9 June 2020 requesting the submission of a further progress report on the implementation of the levy by each local authority.
The Department received a return from each of the 31 local authorities which indicated that, as of 31 May 2020, there were 352 vacant sites listed on local authority registers.
The below table sets out the information available in relation to the specific request on the amount of levy collected in respect of the period to 31 May 2020:
|
Planning Authority |
No. of Sites with Payments Collected 2019 |
Payments Collected 2019 € |
No. of Sites with Payments Collected 2020 |
Payments Collected 2020 € |
|
Dublin City Council |
6 |
604,950 |
1 |
227,500 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
2 |
72,900 |
0 |
0 |
|
Roscommon County Council |
0 |
0 |
4 |
17,150 |
|
Waterford County Council |
Unknown |
3,645 |
0 |
0 |
|
Wicklow County Council |
3 |
165,000 |
0 |
0 |
Some local authorities noted delays in issuing demands for payments in 2020 due to COVID-19.
All levies due on an individual site will remain a charge on the land concerned until all outstanding levies due are paid. Accordingly, under the vacant site levy provisions, there will be a cumulative effect associated with not activating a site for development purposes for each year that a site remains vacant or idle and in respect of which levy liability is not paid.
The levy is not intended to be a revenue generating measure with the proceeds accruing to the relevant local authority rather than the Exchequer. The levy proceeds generated are specifically intended to be used by local authorities for the provision of housing and regeneration development in the local area in which vacant sites are located. No more than 10% of the levy monies received by planning authorities may be used on their administration costs in collecting the levy.
My Department issued a further Circular Letter PL 03/2021 on 8 March 2021 requesting the submission of a progress report on the actual collection of the levy by each local authority in respect of registered sites. The Department is currently following up on any outstanding returns and will collate the responses and identify issues requiring further action. The Department will proactively engage with individual local authorities who could potentially be performing better and identify issues to be addressed.
