Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2015
632. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if properties owned by Dublin City Council which are on their vacant property list will be subject to the vacant site levy. [26297/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra633. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason the provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015 which assist in the necessary alleviation of the housing crisis, notably the vacant site levy in Part 2, only come into operation in January 2019, in view of the gravity of the crisis and the need for immediate action on this issue. [26298/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra634. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce legislation to help solve the housing crisis. [26299/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 632 to 634, inclusive, together.
The Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015, which was approved by Government and published earlier this month, is primarily focused on addressing housing supply-related issues with a view to facilitating increased activity in the housing construction sector, particularly in the Dublin area where demand currently outstrips supply.
The main provisions in the Bill relate to:
- the introduction of measures aimed at encouraging the development of vacant, underutilised sites in urban areas,
- amendments to the Part V provisions of the Planning and Development Acts to support the provision of social housing, and
- the introduction of revised arrangements relating to the application of development contributions by planning authorities.
The measures provided for in the Bill are set in the context of the Government's Construction 2020 strategy, which sets out a broad package of measures designed to support a sustainable level of activity in the construction sector and secure an increase in the supply of housing.
A key measure of the Bill is the introduction of a vacant site levy aimed at incentivising the development of vacant, underutilised sites in central urban areas for residential or regeneration development. Under the provisions of the Bill, the levy will be charged on the registered owners of vacant sites at a rate of 3% of the market value of each site, with reduced or zero rates applying in specific circumstances.
The Bill contains an amendment to section 23 of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to provide that derelict site levy shall not be payable in respect of any land of which the vacant site levy is payable under the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill, when enacted. This provision is intended to ensure that no double levy situation arises in the case of any individual site in respect of which the vacant site levy is being applied by a planning authority.
The Bill provides that planning authorities shall commence charging the vacant site levy from 1 January 2019 in respect of vacant sites entered on the vacant site register on 1 January 2018 i.e. it is charged in arrears. The deferral until 2019 of the commencement of charging the levy is intended to allow site owners sufficient time and opportunity to obtain planning permission and initiate development or alternatively sell their sites in order to avoid becoming liable to the levy. This ultimately facilitates the achievement of the primary objective of the measure which is to bring these sites forward for residential or regeneration development.
