Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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251. To ask the Minister for Finance the advice provided to homeowners, if any, of the respective percentage reduction that should be applied to their property value when valuing their property for the purposes on the local property tax where the only reliable comparable home values available to them are 2010 and/or 2011 property values recorded on the property price register; and the way such advice varies according to the location of the property. [19029/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that I have dealt comprehensively with previous Parliamentary Questions and Topical Debates from herself and from other public representatives on the question of property valuation for LPT purposes. I have sought to re-assure property owners by publicly stating on numerous occasions that where they make their property valuation in an honest and reasonable manner, whether they base that on Revenue's own valuation guidance or some other means, that valuation will not be challenged by Revenue in accordance with its normal Customer Service Charter.

I have been informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the Central Statistics Office (CSO) monthly report, “The Residential Property Price Index” , provides guidance on establishing the percentage reduction to be applied to property values where the only reliable comparable home values available to them are 2010, 2011 or 2012. The CSO's report is designed to measure the change in the level of prices paid for residential properties sold in Ireland and is compiled using data on mortgage drawdowns provided on a monthly basis from mortgage lending institutions. The report is based on the prices of properties that were actually sold and tracks percentage changes in values over time related to an index point set at January 2005. It does not, however, show average prices. Nor does it include cash based transactions.

The Revenue valuation guidance also uses the above CSO data to adjust for price changes in the interim. Consequently, using the Revenue valuation guidance will give property owners average indicative valuations based on the property type, age and location on an adjusted basis and can be relied on to assist property owners in determining the appropriate valuation band for their particular property. In conjunction with the Revenue guidance, the property owner should consider the specifics of his or her own property, for example, if the property has certain unique features, is smaller or larger than the average property in the area, or is in a significantly poor state of repair and these factors should be taken into account in the owner's assessment of the valuation of the property.

The property price register details can also be used as a further source to help the owner determine the valuation band and this is the case even where the details from the prices register are potentially dated. It is particularly so given that the majority of properties will fall into valuation bands, with a range of €50,000 in each band, which means that property owners are not required to provide a precise value for their property. Therefore, if a person lives in a house similar to a house that was sold in 2010, applying the percentage reduction in property values for that area as set out in the CSO monthly Price Index report should give a reasonable basis for selecting a valuation band.

I am satisfied that using the Revenue valuation guidance along with the person's own knowledge of their property and, considering these together with the property prices register, should allow the owner make an honest and reasonable assessment of the valuation band for their property.