Measures to boost building, property sectors

Budget 2014 has come with widely welcomed measures to help the building industry and employment, benefiting homeowners, investors, vendors, and the economy.

It includes incentives to boost the property investment market and confidence, with a strong 2013 recovery already seeing €1bn in investment sales, many to overseas buyers.

Widely welcomed was a one-year extension of a capital gains tax (CGT) waiver for investments bought and held for seven years. Allied to further extension of the REITS schemes for investment properties, this duo will support larger-scale property investment. And Vat rebates are being allowed for home-owners hoping to do renoVations in the next two years, with trickle-down benefits for legitimate, tax-compliant building trades and professions. The measure applies to spends of €5,000, with Vat rebates at 13.5%, so can be worth €4,000 to individual home owners.

Further, a pilot project to safeguard old city buildings, called the Living City Initiative and piloted inWaterford and Limerick cities is now being extended to Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, and Galway.

Thus, the range of budget measures now spans historic city quarters, existing family homes of all vintages needing energy upgrades, extensions, and other works, as well as residential and commercial investment buys. It also embraces new builds, with 500 new state-backed houses to be funded, a further €10m put aside for unfinished estates, €10m for Priory Hall’s rebuilding, and Nama promising €2bn investment in new construction, and completion of up to 4,500 new homes.

The measures have been welcomed broadly as supporting the slowly recovering property, investment and construction sectors, along with incentivising home-owners to deal with tax compliant professionals.

Retention of the 9% Vat rate in the hotel and tourism sectors will also help support recovery and investment in those sectors.