Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Officials from my Department are in discussions with the relevant local authorities to identify the areas of the six cities, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford, which might fall within the scope of the scheme, and to discuss the processes around the administration of the scheme. The Initiative will target certain areas of these six cities, particularly those areas which are most in need of regeneration. Those designated areas will be decided upon by the Minister for Finance following consultations with the relevant local authorities, other Government agencies and his Cabinet colleagues. The Initiative will also be subject to a commencement order. My officials are in discussions with the relevant local authorities and Revenue regarding operationalizing the scheme. Once the scheme is ready to commence I will make an announcement, in conjunction with my cabinet colleagues and the local authorities concerned. I expect this will be in the next few months. A claim for tax relief under the Living City Initiative in respect of qualifying expenditure incurred in 2015 will be made as part of the taxpayer's tax return which will be due to be filed in 2016. It is important to note that only expenditure incurred in the "qualifying period" (i.e. the period commencing on the date of commencement of the relief and ending 5 years after that date) may qualify for relief under the Living City Initiative.

The criteria to be used to establish if expenditure incurred on the conversion or refurbishment of a property qualifies for relief under the Living City Initiative are set out in Chapter 13 of Part 10 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. In particular, in the case of the residential accommodation relief, some of the notable criteria are that the property will need to have been constructed before 1915, have a total floor area of between 38 and 210 square metres, be in use as the sole or main residence of the taxpayer after the qualifying expenditure has been incurred and be located in a designated area. In the case of the relief for commercial premises, some of the significant criteria are that the property must be located in a designated area and be in use for the purpose of retaining goods or the provision of services within the State. The relief will not be available to property developers.

It is important to note that I do not see this as a wide-spread Initiative, as it is targeted at those areas which are most in need of attention.