A local councillor has welcomed the decision made by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to continue the development fee waiver. Cllr Shane P O’Reilly previous raised his concerns over the number of people in the process of building a new home who will miss out on a €6,000 development fee waiver due to bad weather. Couples building their first homes were among the groups missing out on up to €6,0000 as the deadline to file commencement notices to receive the government incentive expired on April 28th. However, following Minister O’Brien’s announcement that deadline is now extended until the end of this year. Speaking to Northern Sound, Cllr Shane P O’Reilly highlighted the importance of this measure which will act towards reducing housing costs and increasing housing supply. He added that he is “delighted” with the outcome as will many others who are building a new home.
"This scheme being extended until the last day of the year must be welcomed," Cllr O'Reilly explained. "It's a brilliant move and it's a reward for those who are actually building at a time when things are costing a lot of money. At the end of the day, people going ahead with building and fulfilling their planning permission will have a knock-on effect within the locality. It has a major knock-on effect with your building suppliers, architects, plumbers, carpenters etc. At the end of the day it's all money that is going back into the local economy. This is something to be absolutely welcomed and I whole heartedly thank Minister Darragh O'Brien for listening to what the people were saying."
