Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 April 2022
244. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance when, he or his Department will collect data on vacancy levels in residential property in line with housing policy objective 19.12 of Housing for All with a view to introducing a vacant property tax; and if that data will be published. [19063/22]
View answerThe Government’s strategy ‘Housing For All’ includes an action for my Department to collect data on vacancy with a view to introducing a Vacant Property Tax. The timeframe for delivery on this commitment is the second quarter of 2022. The Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2021 enabled Revenue to collect certain information in relation to the occupancy status of residential properties including , where unoccupied, the duration and reason for this, in the Local Property Tax (LPT) return forms submitted by residential property owners in respect of the new LPT valuation period 2022-2025. This information, together with information from other available sources, will be used to assess the merits and impact of introducing a Vacant Property Tax.
Revenue have completed a preliminary analysis of the LPT returns received to date which has recently been shared with my Department. The results of the preliminary analysis suggest that levels of vacancy are low across all counties. I anticipate that further detail in relation to this analysis will be available in the coming weeks. I understand Revenue intends to publish a profile of the occupancy data from the LPT returns in due course.
