Council fee waiver extended to end of year, Irish Water waiver to October

Self-builders will not have to pay local authority development levies until the end of the year, waiver for water and wastewater connections only extended to October, the ROI government confirmed on April 24, 2024.

In this article we cover:

The ROI cabinet has approved an extension for the waiving of local authority Section 48 development contributions to the end of this year and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and wastewater connection charges to the beginning of October.

The waiver was due to expire today, but the government had already signalled it would be extending it to the end of the year.

The waiver can represent savings of tens of thousands of euros for self-builders, depending on where they are building.

According to analysis by Selfbuild, for a 200sqm house self-builders were paying on average €6,805 to their local authority for the Section 48 levy, ranging from €1,080 in Co Monaghan to €30,301.50 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s new Cherrywood development area.

Water connection charges are flat rates and total around €6k between water and wastewater connections. The rates haven’t changed in five years.

Record levels of building were recorded in the first quarter of 2024, with 12,000 new homes started in the. This is the highest Q1 figure since records began in 2014, up 63 per cent on the same period last year.

“Without question, the Development contribution waiver and Uisce Éireann connection rebate scheme has led to a surge in new home starts and provided a much needed jolt to our supply pipeline,” said Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien. 

Selfbuild is gathering signatures to extend the waivers indefinitely for self-builders only.

Progress Reports

The government also published a progress report, showing the vacant property refurbishment grant received 7,530 applications with an approval rate of 60 per cent (4,376). In total, 265 applications are complete and grants paid out.

The Help to Buy Scheme supported almost 2,000 to buy their first home in the first three months of this year.

Meanwhile, there were 809 approvals and 262 homes purchased under the First Home Scheme in Q1 alone. Approvals are up 38 per cent compared to Q1 2023. Given the success of the Scheme to date, the government has committed an additional €40 million.

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Written by Astrid Madsen

Astrid Madsen is the editor of the SelfBuild magazine. Email astrid.madsen@selfbuild.ie

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