The development levy waiver was a powerful initiative introduced by the Government to bolster housing supply and ensure a pipeline of housing delivery. We saw some of our largest commencement numbers ever last year, with more than 60,000 homes commenced, 9% of which were first-time, one-off homes.
I come from and represent a rural constituency. I have a major concern with regard to couples or individuals buildings homes in rural areas ending up paying a development contribution to their local authorities. I raised this matter earlier with the Taoiseach. While people are quite happy to pay for their water and ESB connections, paying a development contribution to the council when they live in a rural area seems quite counterintuitive because they do not get lighting, sewerage facilities or footpaths in return. While it is understandable that councils cannot service everywhere, people need to know exactly where that money goes. At present, it is going into the council’s pot and is used to fund everything else the council does. Ultimately, it does not serve the person who contributes. We need to recognise that there is an unfair burden when it comes to these local contributions, not to mention the fact that people also have to install their own septic tanks and put in place their own infrastructure that they have to maintain and manage, which brings its own costs as well.
In respect of the contribution side of things, that money goes into a pot. It is not seen by the people who build their one-off homes. The people who do that need to be recognised. Multiple constituents have contacted me in the months since the waiver was discontinued because they realise that they now have new bills of between €5,000 and €10,000 for connection fees and the development contribution. We need to either ring-fence the funding to ensure it goes towards those local facilities or show that it is delivering local amenities as opposed to disappearing into the abyss. People do not feel like it is a fair charge, especially when they have to invest in infrastructure themselves. They do not get the lights or the footpaths.
We need to make it fairer for people who are constructing their own dwelling. While the Government does a good deal of work to put supports in place, such as the first home or help to buy schemes, to ensure that people have a deposit in place, we then take this development contribution on the other side. There is a better way of doing this. It is either a case of ring-fencing the funding or trying to ensure that this charge is not levied against one-off homes, specifically when those who build such homes have to deliver so much infrastructure themselves.
