Part V - Section 97 Certificate of Exemption

Section 97 Certificate of Exemption

Section 97(3) of the Planning & Development Act, 2000 states that stand alone developments involving the building of up to 4 houses or development of housing on land of 0.1 hectares or less will be exempt from the requirement to transfer lands to the local authority for social or affordable housing.

To avail of this exemption, a person who wishes to obtain permission for the building of up to 4 houses or for housing development on lands of 0.1 hectare or less where either falls within the scope of Part V and the provisions of the Council’s Housing Strategy, will have to obtain an exemption certificate in advance of applying for planning permission to the planning authority.  When applying for this certificate, the person will have to swear a statutory declaration stating certain facts, such as the history of the ownership of the land, and whether they have interests in land in the immediate vicinity to allow the authority to take a view as to whether this is a genuine application.

The purpose of the new procedure is to ensure that person’s do not seek to avoid application of the provisions of Part V of the Planning & Development Act 2000 (as amended) for example, by making multiple applications for small scale residential development.

NOTE    Applicant includes a person on whose behalf a person applies for a certificate is made by, for example, a person acting on behalf of a landowner in a professional capacity, information on the landowner must be included.

Section 97 Declaration Form 

Affordable Housing Act 2021 - Changes to Part V

Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2020 has been amended by the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

Main Changes:

• These changes to Part V primarily apply to land purchased on or after 1 August 2021. Any new planning permissions for housing development on that land will have a 20% Part V requirement.
• A 10% Part V requirement will apply where land already has planning permission or was purchased between 1 September 2015 and 31 July 2021 and planning permission is granted before 31 July 2026.

You can read more about the changes in this document