This article is from page 14 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE Construction Industry Federa- tion (CIF) last night described plans by Clare County Council to more than quadruple new house levies as ‘unjustified and unsustainable’.
As part of the draft developer con- tribution scheme 2008-2011, the council is proposing a 400 per cent increase on levies for houses on zoned land, going up from the cur- rent rate of €5,000 to €21,360.
Currently, house-builders con- structing homes on unzoned land pay €4.180 and under the council’s new scheme, the development levy will more than double to €12,456.
Those seeking to build holiday homes are facing a 300 per cent in-
crease in levies, going from €9,500 to €27,050 per home.
The levies are imposed by the council on house builders to finance water, sewerage, road and com- munity infrastructure and must be paid before houses are occupied. In the past four years, the council has raised €34 million from the scheme. However, in the revised scheme, the council is seeking to raise €101 mil- lion over the next four years.
The draft document is to go before the council next Monday and CIF spokesman, Conor O’Connell yester- day outlined the federation’s opposi- tion to the scheme when he said that the increase will add eight per cent to the price of houses in Clare.
Mr O’Connell said that the lev-
ies are another form of taxation. Mr O’Connell said that the CIF would be lobbying councillors to outline its serious concerns in relation to the scheme.
The scheme is unlikely to get passed in its current form, with Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) representing the views of a number of councillors when he said that the “charges place on unfair burden on young couples wishing to construct a new home”.
As part of the scheme, the council is targeting 1,400 house buyers each year over the next four years to fi- nance its capital spend.