Student accommodation tax relief ‘open to abuse’

A TAX relief scheme to encourage student accommodation developments is wide open to abuse by rogue landlords because proper checks are not being carried out for compliance with the rules, the Labour Party has claimed.

The party’s consumer affairs spokesperson Kathleen Lynch made the remark as it emerged the Revenue Commissioners were unable to specify how many, if any, beneficiaries of the scheme had been audited last year.

More than €214 million in tax relief has been granted since the 1999 introduction of the scheme, which has helped supply 5,000 apartments or houses with capacity for 15,000 tenants.