Wexford County Council doubles levy charged to developers with estimated €20m to fund community projects in next four years
Wexford PeopleWexford County Council (WCC) is to more than double the cost charged to developers for building on public land or property in the county. However, while the council has increased its Development Contribution Scheme (DCS) levy from 0.34pc to 0.77pc this represents the first increase in 12 years and brings Wexford into line with other counties in the south east.
The purpose of the DCS is to enable the local authority to fund public services or facilities in line with any new developments; so, in the case of a housing scheme, the levies collected under the DCS would fund any community projects in the area as well as infrastructure upgrades such as new footpaths or safety works.
Having previously charged developers half what other counties were, chief executive of WCC, Eddie Taaffe, said an increase in the levy was well overdue.
“We need to be well-positioned to provide road extensions, footpath extensions, and surface water management when new houses are built in the county,” he said. “Our levy at the moment is 0.34pc of the construction cost, the increase will bring it to 0.77pc.
"I’m sure every councillor in the chamber can point to areas in their district where footpaths need extensions, that’s what this levy is there to provide.”
While the previous levy added approximately €8.8m to WCC’s coffers over the last four years, the new rate will see that figure increase to more than €20m between 2026-29.
With some parts of the county experiencing growth at a faster rate than others there were calls at the December meeting of WCC to ensure funds are ringfenced accordingly.
“It’s incredibly difficult get safety works done in my district at the moment,” said Gorey councillor Darragh McDonald. “Planning permission has been approved for 500 new homes in the town, and that’s on a road beside a school, and when I asked for raised ramps and safe crossings I was told there was no funding available for 2-3 years.
"There has to be some logic applied where if we’re putting 500 houses in an area safety infrastructure is included. If we can’t ringfence the money through a legislative process can we at least apply some logic to protect people?”
Agreeing with Cllr McDonald, director of planning Liz Hore said the levy will pay for safety infrastructure and that the council wanted to ensure “sustainable communities” were built in Wexford, not just houses.
Further concerns were raised about the impact on those hoping to build their own homes and how this increase will affect them.
“What about young families starting out, who are trying to build their own homes?” asked Cllr Aoife Rose O’Brien. “They’ve been hit with huge increases in fees already, can we have an exemption for first-time builders?”
In response, Ms Hore listed out a number of grant schemes available to first-time buyers rather than those hoping to build.
But Cllr Pat Barden pressed her on the actual costs of constructing a house and how much WCC would request from builders, whether private or public.
“How much extra does this add to the cost of building a four-bed home?” he asked. “Because that’s going to be passed on to the buyers.”
Laying it out in simple maths, Ms Hore said that if a house cost €100,000 to build the levy would be approximately €770 in total, an increase of €400 on the previous figure.
The councillors were then asked to vote on whether to approve the changes to the scheme with all voting in favour bar Cllr John Dwyer. As a result, WCC’s new development contribution scheme will come into effect on January 1, 2026.