Vol. 507 No. 1
19 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Finance the action, if any, his Department has taken to encourage as many private investors as possible to avail of the extension of section 23 in the Finance Act, 1999, and build student housing; the number of private investors who availed of the extension to date; and the third level institutions in which they will be building the student accommodation. [16160/99]
As the Deputy is aware, provision was made in section 50 of the Finance Act, 1999 for the granting of relief for rented residential accommodation for third level students. The relief covers three categories of expenditure-construction, conversion and refurbishment. The relief gives a deduction of 100 per cent of qualifying expenditure which is offset against all rental income whether derived from the premises in question or from other lettings. The relief will be available for expenditure incurred in the four year period from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2003.
To qualify for this relief, each project must be certified by the relevant educational institution in accordance with guidelines recently issued by the Department of Education and Science, with my consent. These guidelines were compiled by the Department of Education and Science after consultation with my Department, the Department of the Environment and Local Government, third level institutions and the Revenue Commissioners. They are intended to assist developers and designers in formulating proposals for student residential developments. They were designed to allow some flexibility in choice of location having regard to constraints in the availability of suitable development sites at or near campus. Under the guidelines a qualifying area is defined as being within the campus area of the educational institution or an area, within an eight kilometre radius of the main campus, which is approved by the certifying educational institution as being an area within which a qualifying development may take place.
While the scheme has been introduced only recently, I can inform the Deputy that in the month that has elapsed since the guidelines were issued, both my Department and the Department of Education and Science report a significant level of interest in this scheme from developers and third level institutions. However the next steps of planning, developing and constructing suitable accommodation facilities for students are in the hands of private developers and educational institutions. Therefore, as the Deputy will appreciate, it is much too early in the process for the requested details to be available, since any developments availing of the scheme are likely to be only at planning or pre-planning stage. Taking up the Deputy's point, I will consult with the Minister for Education and Science to see that the existence of the scheme is drawn to the attention of those who might avail of it.
