Homeowners in over 60 unfinished housing estates throughout Mayo will be eligible for a waiver of the €100 household charge, according to Westport based Labour councillor Keith Martin.
Cllr Martin points out that legislation on the charge “provides that an owner of residential property which is situated in an unfinished estate is entitled to a waiver from payment of the Household Charge in respect of that property for that year.”
The waiver applies to estates where the developer is still in place but is effectively inactive, or where the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents.
A national survey of unfinished housing developments was carried out in 2011 by officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in conjunction with the Planning Departments of the various local authorities. As part of this survey, all unfinished developments were examined and categorised along the following lines:
Category 1: the development is still being actively completed by the developer;
Category 2: a receiver has been appointed;
Category 3: a receiver has not been appointed and the developer is still in place but effectively inactive; and
Category 4: the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents.
An owner of a residential property in an unfinished development contained in the prescribed list is entitled to a waiver from payment of the Household Charge in 2012.
According to Cllr Martin: “A list of such estates has been published by the Department of the Environment which has identified 62 such estates in Mayo”.
