Council seeks extension of fee waiver for first-time buyers
Cllr Marie Therese Duffy
Members of Mayo County Council have agreed that a waiver scheme for first-time house buyers should be extended and have asked management to send a letter to government to that effect.
Fine Gael Cllr Marie Therese Duffy submitted a motion at the October meeting of the council calling for an extension to the "contribution fees waiver scheme for first time buyers trying to build houses".
“People are being told they have missed the deadline and they have to pay €4,000 in development charges, where a neighbour a year ago did not have to," she explained.
Cllr Duffy asked the council to find out from the Department of Housing what the cost of a waiver extension would be.
Cllr Patsy O’Brien supported the motion, saying it was an issue close to his heart.
Cllr Peter Flynn said he supported the call also because "it was a daft decision by government to do away with the waiver scheme".
"We should be trying to encourage young people to build houses and that fee is a substantial cost when starting out in life.”
The council's senior planner John McMyler said it was not within the remit of the council to extend the contribution fees waiver scheme. However, council chief executive Kevin Kelly agreed to put the councillors' request to the Department of Housing.
