Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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302. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if local authorities have legal authority to raise rents specifically for the intention of ringfencing the rent increase to fund local property tax. [61975/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The right of local authorities to set and collect rents on their dwellings is laid down in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of rent schemes, including raising or reducing the rent charged to tenants is an executive function and my department has no role in this regard.

Generally, the majority of the revenue raised by local authorities through the charging of rents is used to support their housing function, including the management and maintenance of their housing stock. However, rental revenue is also used by local authorities to support other functions and budgetary requirements.

Local authorities are liable to pay the tax on their properties in the same way as other residential property owners. There are specific filing and payment arrangements in place for local authorities and local authority residential properties are all included in Band 1 under the valuation system.

It is a matter for the local authority to decide whether it passes on the LPT liability to its tenants or pays the liability without recourse to its tenants.