Pyrite homeowners can avoid expensive testing to avail of their LPT exemption – McEntee

Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Helen McEntee, has said that legislation going through Committee Stage in the Dáil today (Friday), will allow pyrite homeowners to avoid the expensive testing they previously had to undergo to in order to avail of the exemption from Local Property Tax (LPT).

“I have been working on this problem since the Local Property Tax (LPT) was first introduced. Pyrite affects a large number of homes in south Meath and it was right and proper that these homeowners should be exempt from LPT. However it was completely illogical that an affected homeowner could avoid the expensive pyrite testing when entering the pyrite scheme, while on the other hand, Revenue needed the tests to be completed in order to classify the homeowner as exempt from the LPT.

“The Local Property Tax legislation going through the Dáil today deals comprehensively with this anomaly and rectifies the situation. The result of this legislation will be that the LPT exemption is being extended to properties whose owners don’t have the required certification but, nevertheless have properties that have been proven to have been damaged by pyrite to a significant extent.

“The exemption is being extended to properties that have been included in the official pyrite remediation scheme without the need for testing, properties that are remediated as a result of a successful insurance claim and properties that are remediated by the builder or property developer who constructed the property.

“I am now calling for Revenue to publish clear guidelines for affected homeowners on their website and I will highlight the need for this with Revenue officials.”