House hold charge

LB6

So I know it's a topic of controversy. But having listened to all those great people who've paid up - god bless them - I haven't :rolleyes: I decided I'd better go have a gander at the https://www.householdcharge.ie/ website. Et voila- expemtions. Thank God.

Now I know for a fact that CHM in Raheen is an unfinished estate (in so far as the county council have not taken it over from Ger O'Rourke - aka Chieftain Construction). Does that get me off the hook of having to pay this stupid tax?

"What are the waivers from payment of the household charge?

The waivers from payment of the household charge are as follows:
Owners of residential property entitled to mortgage interest supplement
Owners of residential property located in prescribed unfinished housing estates (see Unfinished Housing Estates section for more detail)"

Then on the other hand, if they deem the estate to be finished and we have to pay. What are the chances that the CC will take over the estate and do what needs to be done to get it up to scratch?

phog

Estates that are not taken over by the council will not be exempt. I'm not sure on what the criteria for unfinished estates will be but just because the council haven't taken over an estate wont be enough to escape the tax.

BobMc

Very interesting, I believe a property tax is long overdue, but I do expect something for my money with regards where I live if they collect my hard earned and already taxed income, the most important thing being having my estate roads being maintained, I'll be holding off paying as my estate is not under council control as of yet!!

xxlauraxxox

does my landlord pay mine??

the drifter

xxlauraxxox wrote: »

does my landlord pay mine??

Yes

Kess73

xxlauraxxox wrote: »

does my landlord pay mine??

Yes. The house owner pays it directly not the tenant/tenants. But you can be sure that many landlords will find a way to get it back from the tenant(s) over time, especially if the rumoured hefty increases in the property charge come in over the next few years.

RonMexico

Money For Bondholders Charge (To Be Increased Annually)

Calling a spade a spade.

Berty

My estate is not fully finished or occupied but I would assume they will come up with a percentage like 60% must be unfinished before you can be exempt.

Needless to say those who do not contribute to society are on the top of the exemption lists.

Bless


Anyway, until the government or council writes to me telling me where to pay it then I won't be paying it. They cannot assume that I am going to go out of my way to find out where. I haven't heard a radio ad, read a newspaper ad or anything similar on this matter from the government.(other than media reports only discussing the issue)

A2LUE42

Unfinished Housing Estates
What is an Unfinished Housing Estate Waiver?

The legislation provides that an owner of residential property which is situated in an unfinished estate, within the meaning contained in the Local Government (Household Charges) Act 2011, on the liability date (1st January) is entitled to a waiver from payment of the Household Charge in respect of that property for that year.

If you have a query in relation to the estates which qualify for the waiver, please contact the Planning and Housing Policy Section of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government at one of the following numbers:

(053) 911 7398

(053) 911 7402

(053) 911 7397

(053) 911 7399

All the estates that are covered by this waiver are due to be online by the end of this week.

the drifter

I have no access to the Internet therefore am unable to know about or pay this charge.

Thanks

D

skyguy19

Im not paying it anyway

leeomurchu

I think most will end up paying this I myself nor do i intend to until I receive in writing what I am paying for and who I am paying I pay a private company for my bin collections do I get an allowance on that..:eek: I don't think so.. Our water is cut off on a regular basis can I claim for the inconvenience of that happening in a house with two young babies, bottles bathing etc gets expensive when you have to pay for bottled water. I had to pay to install a water softener as the water quality was not fit for consumption I also have to pay to maintain that. Can I claim for this I don't think so. All in all I'd have no problem paying the charge if I were paying for a decent reliable service. This country has gone to the dogs :mad:

thesimpsons

I am most amazed (though I wonder why anything should amaze me anymore !!) that there is no bill or invoice to anyone. you are expected to front up and pay, even better you are expected to know that you are supposed to front up and pay but all without any paperwork. numerous people I've spoken to have said they'll probably pay it but are all expecting to get something in the mail about it.

mgbgt1978

Have no fear.....the household charge department (or whatever they call themselves) had a spokesperson on "The Last Word" this evening and apparently there will be a leaflet drop coming soon.
Not an individual bill or anything, just a generic leaflet that will dropped through most letterboxes...apparently it will be done by a private company rather than An Post, so expect large gaps in the delivery, eg apartment blocks etc. where they wont have access.
Also, according to the spokesperson, if you haven't paid anything by this time next year the most you will be liable for is an extra 30% for late payment.
By the way, as myself and the wife are joint owners I have decided to pay my share (i.e. half of the charge) but she is refusing to pay....watch this space;)

angeldaisy

now I'm a bit confused about this charge, according to the website its to pay for the following
fire and emergency services; maintenance and cleaning of streets; planning and development; public parks; street lighting; libraries; open spaces and leisure amenities

Now I live in the country, so I have no street lighting, no public parks, no leisure amenities and no maintainance or cleaning of streets (ok every so often someone comes and throws a bit of 'whatever' in to repair a pot hole.
Now I have no problem paying for the services I use or need, but does this charge now mean that if I require the fire service I don't have to pay for it??
http://www.lcc.ie/Emergency_Services/Fire_Rescue/Fire_Prevention/Fees_and_Charges
Otherwise this is going to mean that I am paying 100 euro to have a few library books and a couple of pothole repairs.
I thought with all the talk about it being only 2 euro a week(from the politicians) that they would at least offer us this method of payment!

LadyTBolt

I signed up last night to the charge.
Will be paying it by direct debit - €25 in March, May, July and September so it won't feel too bad.
As much as it sickens me to pay this charge paying any interest or penalties will make it so much worse. If I had to pay this I will be sick altogether.

LB6

I was looking at that website and for the love of me - I can't find anywhere on the page that allows you to set up an DD with them.

LadyTBolt

You have to register first and then continue to payment section

LB6

Yep - tried that last night, but none of the purple buttons were showing last night to be able to create the account. Working on it now tho. Nearly there - hanging on the last page - FFS - they just don't want my money lol

Berty

LB6 wrote: »

Yep - tried that last night, but none of the purple buttons were showing last night to be able to create the account. Working on it now tho. Nearly there - hanging on the last page - FFS - they just don't want my money lol

+ Sames

the drifter

Can anyone tell me are all fields required. I havent logged in yet but do i actually have to select what water supply i have?

hightower1

angeldaisy wrote: »

now I'm a bit confused about this charge, according to the website its to pay for the following
fire and emergency services; maintenance and cleaning of streets; planning and development; public parks; street lighting; libraries; open spaces and leisure amenities

Now I live in the country, so I have no street lighting, no public parks, no leisure amenities and no maintainance or cleaning of streets (ok every so often someone comes and throws a bit of 'whatever' in to repair a pot hole.
Now I have no problem paying for the services I use or need, but does this charge now mean that if I require the fire service I don't have to pay for it??
http://www.lcc.ie/Emergency_Services/Fire_Rescue/Fire_Prevention/Fees_and_Charges
Otherwise this is going to mean that I am paying 100 euro to have a few library books and a couple of pothole repairs.
I thought with all the talk about it being only 2 euro a week(from the politicians) that they would at least offer us this method of payment!

Just because you specifically will not get the most out of this doesnt mean you shouldnt pay it. This is not a pay per use country , we all pay the same to the state , yes its difficult to get the same percentage from differing sections of society at times but the goal is that we all take care of each other equally. If you feel very hard done by you could always move to an estate thats currently receiving a lot of state money to try and regenerate or invigorate it, Moyross for example. You will certainly get more benefit from your 100eur payment if you sell your country house and move there.

LB6

the drifter wrote: »

Can anyone tell me are all fields required. I havent logged in yet but do i actually have to select what water supply i have?

just your particulars - nothing about water supply etc.

LB6

there must be queues of ppl logging on - that bloody last page has been hanging for fifteen mins

bazz26

angeldaisy wrote: »

now I'm a bit confused about this charge, according to the website its to pay for the following
fire and emergency services; maintenance and cleaning of streets; planning and development; public parks; street lighting; libraries; open spaces and leisure amenities

Now I live in the country, so I have no street lighting, no public parks, no leisure amenities and no maintainance or cleaning of streets (ok every so often someone comes and throws a bit of 'whatever' in to repair a pot hole.
Now I have no problem paying for the services I use or need, but does this charge now mean that if I require the fire service I don't have to pay for it??
http://www.lcc.ie/Emergency_Services/Fire_Rescue/Fire_Prevention/Fees_and_Charges
Otherwise this is going to mean that I am paying 100 euro to have a few library books and a couple of pothole repairs.
I thought with all the talk about it being only 2 euro a week(from the politicians) that they would at least offer us this method of payment!

With all due respect, it is just too impractical in reality to set up a system where they would collect €2 each week for one year from so many households. They also want the tax collected in time for next December's budget so collecting it over a full calendar year will not achieve that.

Also this is only designed to be an interim tax until the introduction of a property tax and water charge some time next year.

Berty

My estate is apparently(spoke to them myself) Category 3 unfinished so I don't have to pay for 2012.

LB6

For a crowd that's in a hurry to make money - their website is not great, and when you contact the number on the list to see if your estate is on it, he can't see it, but to wait till it goes online. :eek: Website said list by end of week. Still not there. :rolleyes:

Rang Limerick CC., they haven't taken over CHM, but they're not sure either and they're also waiting on a list from the Government.

Give me strength. Think I'll hang onto my money!;)

Berty

I rang the first number and a guy answered in about 5 seconds and in 30 seconds he could tell me that it was on the list for non paying households. He said they did a review of all unfinished estates last April or something and categorised them from there.

DoesNotCompute

I also rang them (although I rang the main switch number for the dept of the envoirenment, who put me through to the wrong section, but the chap i spoke to put my through to the correct section).

Anwyay, my estate is on the list of unfinished estates, not sure what category, but the builder is in NAMA and half a row of houses are not completley built on the inside. Also the developer bought a load of land that he intended to build on, but those plans went down the drain once the recession kicked in.

And to answer the original poster, I don't think you'll be entitled to claim the "unfinished estate" waiver just because the Council haven't taken over - it's more to do with whether or not there are a public safety issues and/or the developer is uncontactable/bankrupt/in administration/no longer financially solvent.

LB6

And therein lies the problem DNC. It's CHM and it was built by Chieftain Construction. AFAIK - he's gone bust and there's issues still unresolved. So the lad in 053 no couldn't give me a definite answer.

Berty

LB6 wrote: »

And therein lies the problem DNC. It's CHM and it was built by Chieftain Construction. AFAIK - he's gone bust and there's issues still unresolved. So the lad in 053 no couldn't give me a definite answer.

See page 3 of this link to see where you should lie. They only exempt Category 3 and 4.

http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,26679,en.pdf