Written answers

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Department of Finance

Living City Initiative

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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154. To ask the Minister for Finance to consider the circumstances of a person (details supplied) in County Cork for relief under the living city initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45132/15]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I refer to the individual's letter in relation to the Living City Initiative scheme. The Living City Initiative was first introduced in 2013 for the Limerick and Waterford areas. The scope of the Initiative was subsequently extended to Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny and broadened to incorporate houses constructed prior to 1915. 

A tax relief must be designed within certain parameters and eligibility will be subject to certain conditions. In order to avail of the tax relief under the scheme, there are a number of conditions that must be met including:

- The property must be located within the 'special regeneration area' (SRA) and the individual has clarified in his letter that his property is indeed located within the special regeneration area of Cork city.

- The second condition is that the property must have been originally built for use as a dwelling prior to 1915. So, for example, an old derelict church which is to be converted into a dwelling does not qualify, since it was not originally built as a dwelling. A property, which was originally built as a dwelling, may have been refurbished or converted for another purpose in the meantime. Expenditure on such a building qualifies. Similarly, expenditure on an apartment in a large Georgian house by the owner/occupier will qualify for the relief even if no work has been carried out on the rest of the building.

I have been informed that the planning policy section in Cork City Council has not reached a final decision as yet and they would welcome a further meeting with this individual to reassess his application. This individual should contact the planning section to arrange a mutually convenient time.

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