Dublin City Council may receive up to €10 million from the IRFU and the FAI for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road under a new levy regime that comes into force tomorrow. Dominic Coyle and Gordon Deegan report.
Construction industry sources say the new development contribution scheme that comes into force today will impose considerable burdens on amenities ranging in size from the proposed national stadium to local community sports centres, which will face charges of up to €200,000. Planning authorities throughout the State have until tonight to finalise development contributions that will be levied on all new buildings, including private homes.
The contributions, laid down under the Planning and Development Act 2000, must relate to infrastructural requirements within each area and will affect any new planning permissions granted from today by local authorities.
Prior to this, development levies have operated in a more haphazard fashion.
The cost to developers under the new development contribution schemes agreed to date run from €476 a house in the Bundoran Town Council area to €16,125 for an average-sized property in Fingal County Council in north Dublin.
The Department of the Environment says that any planning authority not implementing a charge by the deadline will be unable to do so in the future.
Several county councils and a number of smaller planning authorities have dramatically cut the initial charge structure proposed by officials and and some have yet to agree any charge. Wicklow, Donegal and Clare County Councils all agreed contribution schemes this week that will yield considerably less than the figures proposed by officials. Monaghan county councillors have similarly refused to increase existing levies.
Officials in several councils have voiced concern that they are in danger of running short of cash to fund road and other infrastructural projects as a result of the reduced charges.
A number of councils have also skewed the charges to minimise the impact on first-time buyers. Mayo County Council, for instance, has offered first-time buyers a €1,500 rebate on any charges incurred and Clare County Council, which set its contribution levels only after a marathon council session on Monday, will charge three times more for holiday homes than for first-time buyers.
There are concerns that such variations may lead to legal challenges. The Construction Industry Federation failed last week in an effort to stop Dublin City Council setting a contribution scheme without detailing what projects the money would be spent on.
The CIF has said that the new charges will add about 5 per cent to the value of new homes.