Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a person who is not the registered owner of their house due to a title issue on the dwelling is liable for the household charge 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10498/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 and the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012 provide the legislative basis for the household charge.

While the Act places the household charge under the care and management of the local authorities, and application in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority, the household charge is on a self assessment basis, and interpretation of the legislation is a matter for legal advice in individual cases and ultimately a matter for the Courts.

Under the legislation, an owner of a residential property on the liability date of 1 January 2012 is liable to pay the household charge by 31 March 2012, unless otherwise exempted or entitled to claim a waiver.

Section 1 of the Act provides a definition of "owner" for the purposes of the Act which, in relation to a residential property, means—

(a) a person (other than a mortgagee not in possession) who—

(i) in the case of a residential property that is let under a lease or held under a tenancy for a term not exceeding 20 years, is entitled to receive the rent under that lease or tenancy whether in his or her own right or as trustee or agent for another person, or

(ii) in the case of a residential property that is not so let or so held, would, subject to paragraph (b) , be so entitled if the residential property were so let or so held, whether in that person's own right or as trustee or agent for another person,

or

(b) where the property is let under a lease or held under a tenancy for a term exceeding 20 years, the person (other than a mortgagee not in possession) who is the lessee under that lease or tenant under that tenancy.

Section 2 of the Act specifies what is residential property for the purposes of the legislation.

As with all legislation, it is for each person to determine (with legal advice, if considered necessary) whether, and to what degree, he or she is affected by the legislative provisions concerned, and thus, in the present instance, to determine whether he or she is an 'owner' of a 'residential property' within the meaning of the household charge legislation; it is a matter for a person who is such an owner to assess his or her liability for the household charge, and, where there is a liability, to so declare and to pay the household charge.