O’SULLIVAN CALLS FOR VACANT SITE LEVY TO BE FAST TRACKED

Labour TD and Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government, Jan O’Sullivan, has called on the Government to bring forward the new Vacant Site levy by one year, from 2018 to 2017, to tackle the housing crisis.

The levy, which consists of a 3 per cent charge of the market value for unused land, aims to combat the hoarding of development land that could be used for housing.

Deputy O’Sullivan raised the issue with the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, in the Dáil today.

“I was disappointed to hear from the Taoiseach that the proposal to bring forward the introduction of the Vacant Site levy is not even being considered- despite a chronic shortage in the supply of houses.

This is the crux of the issue- and whatever is done in next week’s Budget to help first time buyers must address that.

The levy would encourage owners to make land available for building homes- many of them are sitting on prime land until it becomes more profitable.

This is one of the measures contained in Labour’s Social and Affordable Housing Bill, and needs to be brought forward as a matter of urgency.”