Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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917. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the direction or advice his Department is giving to local authorities in relation to the provision to allow deductions for the local property tax from individual tenants via their rent payable; his views on whether local authorities will not have an adequate maintenance budget for their housing stock if they have to fund the payment of the property tax from their existing funds. [37818/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, housing authorities are responsible for determining the rents of their dwellings, subject to complying with broad principles laid down by my Department, notably that the rent payable should be related to income and that low-income households should pay a lower proportion of income in rent. Within these parameters, it is a matter for housing authorities, as an integral part of their housing management functions, to ensure that their rental income reflects, as far as practicable, the cost of managing and maintaining their housing stock .

The current arrangements for determining local authority rents will be substantially replaced on the coming into force of section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which predates, and does not refer to, the Local Property Tax legislation. The Housing (Amendment) Act 2013 was enacted in July to facilitate the coming into force of section 31. I intend to make Regulations underpinned by Section 31 , which will reaffirm the principle that rents should be related to household income and composition, and reflecting the requirement that housing authorities should set rent levels that take account, as far as practicable, of the cost of providing works and services to, and managing and maintaining, their rented accommodation. I will be asking the Housing Agency to provide the relevant guidance to housing authorities to assist them in making their rent schemes to ensure that they comply with these regulations.