Incentives for developers and the ability to cut HAP payments recommended by council

Tipperary County Council have written to the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, with recommendation to improve housing availability.

This follows the special council sitting held on March 29. From that meeting, members generated 11 measures they believe would ease the housing crisis.

The new recommendations include various incentives for landlords and developers and an amendment to legislation that would allow HAP payments to be cut if the tenant does not pay their contribution.

They also include three measures the council requested in July 2022 but remain unresolved.

In the letter, Tipperary County Council say:

“Following a long constructive debate, the members asked that I write to you outlining a number of measures/recommendations that, in their opinion, would help improve the availability of housing and the ability of applicants to qualify for housing.”

VACANT AND NEW HOMES

The first recommendation, and one previously requested is the appointment of a second vacant housing officer.

Vacant housing officers are responsible for helping to get vacant houses back in use.

In their letter, Tipperary County Council say that given the size of the county and the work involved in processing Croí Conaithe fund applications, a second officer is needed.

Secondly, Tipperary County Council are asking for an amendment to the Repair and Lease and Buy and Renew Schemes.

They would like to target shop owners who have space above their shops that could be converted for residential use.

This measure would apply only in towns with a population 20,000 and under.

“In order to get the upper floors utilised, it is the considered view of Council that a tax-based incentive scheme for those property owners of towns 20,000 population and less would actively generate more interest and uptake of a scheme to release more much needed units for accommodation into our towns,” said Tipperary County Council.

They also recommend amending the Shared Equity scheme to include new self builds including on affordable sites that are provided by the Local Authority.

The members are requesting tax or financial incentives for developers who already have planning permission to build. They suggest a reduction of VAT similar to the measures provided to the hospitality sector during the pandemic. Tipperary County Council say the measure would be targeted, “time limited & locational appropriate.”

They would also like an increase to the Croí Conaithe (Towns) Fund from €30,000/ €50,000 to €50,000/ €80,000 to address rising costs in materials.

IRISH WATER

The letter outlines two recommendations for Irish Water.

The first is to ask for an update on those housing schemes awaiting sign off from Irish Water.

The second is to speed-up the new drinking and wastewater plants and upgrades that are currently preventing developments in towns and villages.

“There are many towns and villages in County Tipperary where inadequate drinking water or wastewater treatment capacity is impeding the progression of housing development,” said Tipperary County Council in their letter.

RENTAL MARKET

On the rental market, the council are recommending that HAP payments made to landlords be ceased where a tenant does not pay their contribution.

They recommend financial incentives be given to public and private organisations to build retirement homes.

For landlords they recommend a range of tax incentives to get them back into the rental market.

Lastly, Tipperary County Council are recommending incentives for property owners to down-size where appropriate to larger units are put back into the market.

HOUSING SPC

In addition to the letter written to the Minister for Housing, Tipperary County Council agreed on a number of items to be referred to the Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) for housing.

SPCs are responsible for advising the council on policy in specific areas and are made up of elected members and representatives from stakeholder groups.

Those include changes to the choice based letting system for single people, void turn-around times.

They are to examine the legality of compulsory purchases and licensing of mobile type homes.