Update: Unfinished Housing Estates 1st July 2014

1st July 2014 - Bernard Durkan TD

Question Nos. 121 and 133

Chun an Aire Comhshaoil, Pobail agus Rialtais Áitiúil:

To the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government:

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing estates in County Kildare the development of which is deemed to be incomplete and which may qualify for the special budgetary provisions made for unfinished estates; the number and location of such estates already deemed eligible; the degree to which approval has issued or will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which he has had discussions with the various local authorities with a view to utilisation of the maximum funding available from the special budgetary provision in respect of unfinished housing estates; the number of estates qualifying under the criteria on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

– Bernard J. Durkan.

For WRITTEN answer on Thursday, 1st May, 2014.

Ref No: 19841/14 and 19891/14

For WRITTEN answer on Thursday, 1st May, 2014.

REPLY

Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (Ms. J. O’Sullivan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 133 together.

Budget 2014 contains a special provision, in the form of a targeted €10m Special Resolution Fund (SRF), to assist further in addressing the legacy of unfinished housing developments. The SRF is designed to encourage the resolution of the remaining tranche of unfinished developments identified in the National Housing Development Survey 2013 and, particularly, those developments not likely to be resolved in the normal way through solely developer/owner/funder action because of the presence of specific financial barriers. It is envisaged that the SRF should be particularly targeted to address the remaining unfinished developments with residents living in them and, in particular, any developments that local authorities identified, for the purposes of the Local Property Tax waiver, as in a seriously problematic condition.

In December 2013, my Department wrote to local authorities seeking proposals for funding support under the SRF and the deadline for receipt of applications was 28 February 2014. I understand that Kildare County Council has submitted applications in respect of 4 housing developments for funding.

All submissions are currently being evaluated by my Department in accordance with the criteria that have been circulated to the local authorities. I am conscious of the limited time available to complete SRF projects within the current year and, while I am not currently in a position to confirm whether the applications in respect of the developments in question will be successful, I expect that my Department will be in a position to finalise its consideration of the matter in the very near future.

A comprehensive range of information on Unfinished Housing Developments is available on the Housing Agency’s website at:

http://www.housing.ie/Our-Services/Unfinished-Housing-Developments.aspx

As part of the process of analysing and addressing the causes and consequences of unfinished housing developments, the Department has published annual National Housing Development Surveys since 2010. Developments to be included in the surveys were those in an unfinished state whose construction had ceased since 1 January 2007, specifically owing to the onset of the economic downturn and related developments in the housing market. All these surveys are displayed at the Housing Agency web link above.

An exemption from the Local Property Tax (LPT) applies to developments listed in the Schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013. The list of unfinished housing developments eligible for the exemption was compiled by local authorities based on data from the National Housing Survey 2012, which was carried out over the course of summer 2012 by my Department in conjunction with local authorities and the Housing Agency.

The administration of issues relating to unfinished housing developments is a matter for individual local authorities. Each local authority has appointed an Unfinished Housing Development co-ordinator; contact details are also displayed at the Housing Agency web link above.

It is hoped that the SRF will enable very substantial progress to be made in resolving as many of the remaining unfinished developments as possible.

Update: Unfinished Housing Estates 1st July 2014

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