The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended by the Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011, introduced a €200 annual charge on non principal private residences, payable by the owners to the local authority in whose area the property concerned is located.
A non exhaustive list of exemptions is as follows
1. Principal Private Residences
2. Where a person partly occupies a dwelling as his or her sole or main residence and avails of the Revenue Commissioners’ Rent-a-Room Scheme
3. Residential property owned by certain charities or comprised in a discretionary trust.
4. Where a person is moving house and, in the process, owns two houses for a relatively short period.
5. Joint ownership of a property after a divorce or separation agreement where the second residence becomes the primary residence of one party.
6. Where a person who owns a principal private residence vacates the dwelling in question because he or she is long-term incapacitated as a result of physical or mental illness.
7. Where a residence is occupied rent-free by a relative of the owner and the owner resides on the same property or within two kilometres of the residence in question.
The charge was €200 per year but if it went unpaid, significant surcharges were added to it.
If you are purchasing a property, you need to be sure the Non Principle Primary Residence Charge was paid by the previous occupant or that the property was exempt at the time.
We will check this for you.
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Ivan Moran & Co Solicitor, Castlerea, Co Roscommon 