Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 May 2024
184. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 414 of 30 April 2024, to outline the conditions under which local authority section 48 development contributions may be waived; how far houses must have been progressed in order to have the development contributions waived; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24433/24]
View answerOn 25 April 2023, the Government approved additional measures under the Housing for All Action Plan to incentivise the activation of increased housing supply and help reduce housing construction costs, including the introduction of temporary time-limited arrangements for the waiving of local authority “section 48” development contributions and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and waste water connection charges.
In order to be included in the scheme, developers must submit a competed application form and associated commencement notice to their local authority where a development is deemed to fall within the scope of the scheme - and in the case of new single unit developments, it has been verified that development works have commenced on the site - the local authority should issue the applicants a waiver letter and undertaking form.
On receipt of the completed undertaking and if the local authority is satisfied that the development will likely be completed by the conclusion of the waiver scheme period, the waiver application can be approved. Local authorities should then confirm in the waiver approval letter to the applicant that their waiver application has been successful and the level of waiver that has been applied.
The full details in relation to the implementation and operation of the waiver and refund arrangements were notified to local authorities by way of Department of Housing Circular Letter PL 08/2023 dated 28 April 2023, supplemented by an associated detailed guidance document. It is noted in this guidance that the submission of a valid ‘Certificate of Compliance on Completion’ will provide a formal indication of development completion.
Some residential developments that are eligible for the development contribution waiver may avail of Article 9(5) of the Building Control Regulations 1997 to 2015 which enables an owner of a single dwelling, on single-unit development site, to ‘opt out’ of the statutory certification requirements - including in relation to relevant certification to confirm completion - under the Building Control Regulations. In these circumstances, the local authority should satisfy itself that the dwelling concerned has been completed, to a level that the submission of a valid ‘Certificate of Compliance on Completion’ would be possible if the development had not been opted out.
In order to ensure that the measure operates as intended, it is important that appropriate arrangements are put in place to ensure compliance with the terms of the scheme. For this reason, the undertaking form includes details of the application of clawback/refund arrangements in relation to development contributions paid to local authorities by the Department on behalf of the person liable for the contribution where the conditions of the scheme have not been met, including that the development has not been completed by the end date of the scheme i.e. 31 December 2026.
