Build cost report Development levy holiday in ROI

Construction costs account for about half of total delivery costs, according to the Department of the Taoiseach.

Self-builders won’t have to pay development levies to their local authority, saving on average €12,650, as long as they complete their house build by 31 December 2025. The holiday will apply for a 12-month period, until April 2024, in a bid to stimulate more house building.

The ROI cabinet introduced the measures to stimulate house building in April 2023, taking immediate effect. Your

2019.

Connections up to 10m from the mains now cost €2,272 for water and €3,929 for wastewater, representing a saving of over €6k for water charges alone.

“All residential developments (Apartments, Scheme Housing and one-off homes) will be exempt from Development levies and water connection fees,” a spokesperson for the ROI Department of Housing told Selfbuild. “The Exchequer

The Residential Construction Cost Study published late April shows that introducing standardised specifications for wall build ups and heating and ventilation systems can yield significant savings.

Labour costs and using “site-based heat generation”, i.e. installing boilers or heat pumps, as opposed to district heating also contributed to the high unit costs.

Most relevant to self-builders was the analysis done for the cost of building semi-detached homes in Dublin. A 123sqm five bedroom semi-detached house designed with five occupants in mind cost €180k to build, which was 15 per cent more than it cost to build a similar unit in Birmingham.

The report’s action plan includes rolling out standardised social housing plans and “simplified layouts”, although these will be “indicative only” and accompanied by performance and economic best practice guidance.

Updated RIAI guide

commencement notice must have been submitted to the local authority within the 28 day period prior to 25 April 2023 i.e. on or after 28 March 2023 to qualify.

Self-builders currently have to pay development levies to their local authority to pay for infrastructure costs such as roads. These can amount to tens of thousands of euros in certain areas.

Self-builders will continue to have to pay connections charges for electricity but won’t have to pay for water connection fees. The waiver does not apply to group water schemes; according to the Department of Housing it only applies to “houses connected to a water and wastewater supply provided by Irish Water/ Uisce Eireann”.

Water connection fees used to be done on a case by case basis, as is electricity at the moment, but a flat rate for water and wastewater connections was introduced in will compensate Local Authorities and Irish Water for this loss of revenue.”

“This will cut the cost of building a home and apply for a limited time only to act as an incentive,” stated the press release dated April 2023.

For those at the site hunting stage, know that under the Ready to Build Scheme local authorities can provide serviced sites to self-builders.

Also know that self-builders are exempt from the new ROI rezoning tax on land as it will only apply to developments of more than four houses. The new Land Value Sharing (LVS) charge of 30 per cent will apply on the difference between existing use value and the market value on land that has been zoned for housing. The aim is prevent land speculation and land hoarding.

The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) updated its guide to working with an architect for 2023.

The guide now includes the RIAI’s 2030 Climate Challenge, a voluntary pledge to design buildings to have as little impact as possible on the environment.

The document outlines your obligations, from planning, health and safety through to building regulations and building control. It also provides a bird’s eye view of the stages you can expect to go through during your building project.

Even if light on details, the guide is a great overview of the process. The first edition of Working with an Architect was published in 2017.