Vol. 531 No. 3
204 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Finance if he will accede to the request from an organisation (details supplied) to discuss its concerns at the Government's response to the recommend ations of the Commission on the Private Rented Sector. [5983/01]
Unfortunately, due to the work load associated with the Finance Bill, it will not be possible to meet the stated organisation to discuss its concerns on the Government's response to the recommendations of the Commission on the Private Rented Residential Sector. This issue is, in the first instance, a matter for the Department of the Environment and Local Government. Any concerns about the Government's response to the recommendations of the commission should be addressed to that Department. On 5 January the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and urban renewal, Deputy Molloy, announced the Government proposals for reforms in the private rented residential sector arising from the commission's report.
The Finance Bill, 2001 as published, provides for certain tax incentives included in these measures as follows – roll over relief for capital gains tax purposes will be made available to landlords where the proceeds of a sale of investment property providing rented residential accommodation are reinvested in such property. It will be a condition that the reinvestment property must contain at least as many residential units as the one disposed of, with a minimum of three units to apply in any event. The disallowance of interest payments for tax purposes in respect of properties purchased on or after 5 January 2001 will be removed where all the following criteria are met – the property had been converted from a single unit into multiple units of three or more prior to 1 October 1963, that is, when the 1963 planning legislation came into force, the property consists of at least three units and the total number of units is not reduced below 50% of the number of units at the time of acquisition, at least 50% of the units in the property are available for letting to tenants in receipt of SWA assistance or any revised rent assistance arrangements which are put in place. The tax relief will apply to the tax liability on the rental income only.
Entitlement to all of the reliefs outlined will be dependent on compliance with the applicable regulatory controls and to registering tenancies with the proposed private residential tenancies board. Further measures are under consideration for inclusion on Committee Stage of the Finance Bill. I will let the Deputy have the details when they are announced.
