96B.—(1) In this section—

"house" means—

(a) a building or part of a building which has been built for use as a dwelling, and

(b) in the case of a block of apartments or other building or part of a building comprising 2 or more dwellings, each of those dwellings;

"market value", in relation to a house, means the price which the house might reasonably be expected to fetch on a sale in the open market;

"relevant house" means a house, permission for which would have ceased to have effect or expired but for section 4 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act, 2002.

(2) There shall be deemed to be attached to a permission referred to in section 96A a condition providing that there shall, in accordance with subsections (3) to (5), be paid to the planning authority an amount in respect of—

(a) unless paragraph (b) applies as respects the particular house, the first disposal of each relevant house built on foot of that permission,

(b) if, as respects a particular relevant house—

(i) it is built on foot of that permission by a person for his or her own occupation, or

(ii) it is built on foot of that permission for a person (‘the first-mentioned person’) by another for the first-mentioned person’s occupation and that other person is not the person from whom the first-mentioned person acquires his or her interest in the land on which the house is built,

the completion of the building of that relevant house on foot of that permission.

(3) In subsection (2) ‘first disposal’, in relation to a relevant house, means whichever of the following first occurs after the house is built—

(a) the sale, at arm’s length, of the house (whether the agreement for that sale is entered into before or after the building of the house is completed),

(b) the granting of a tenancy or lease in respect of the house for the purpose of the grantee of the tenancy or lease occupying the house, or

(c) the sale, otherwise than at arm’s length, of the house (whether the agreement for that sale is entered into before or after the building of the house is completed) or the transfer of the beneficial interest in the house.

(4) The amount of the payment referred to in subsection (2) shall be—

(a) where the disposal of the house concerned falls within subsection (3)(a)—

(i) if the consideration paid to the vendor by the purchaser equals or exceeds €270,000, an amount equal to 1 per cent of the consideration so paid,

(ii) if the consideration paid to the vendor by the purchaser is less than €270,000, an amount equal to 0.5 per cent of the consideration so paid,

(b) where either—

(i) the disposal of the house concerned falls within subsection (3)(b) or (c), or

(ii) subsection (2)(b) applies as respects the house concerned,

an amount equal to—

(I) if the market value of the house at the time of the disposal or upon the completion of its building, equals or exceeds €270,000, 1 per cent of the market value of the house at the time of that disposal or upon that completion,

(II) if the market value of the house at the time of the disposal or upon such completion is less than €270,000, 0.5 per cent of the market value of the house at the time of that disposal or upon such completion.

(5) The payment referred to in subsection (2) shall be made at such time as the planning authority specifies (and the time that is so specified may be before the date on which the disposal concerned of the relevant house is effected).

(6) Any amount paid to a planning authority in accordance with this section shall be accounted for in a separate account and shall only be applied as capital for its functions under this Part or by a housing authority for its functions in relation to the provision of housing under the Housing Acts, 1966 to 2002.

(7) (a) The planning authority shall issue, in respect of the payment to it of an amount (being the amount required to be paid under this section in a particular case), a receipt, in the prescribed form, to the payer stating that the liability for payment of that amount in the case concerned has been discharged.

(b) A document purporting to be a receipt issued under this subsection by the planning authority shall be prima facie evidence that the liability for the payment of the amount to which it relates has been discharged.

(8) Any of the following—

(a) a provision of a contract of sale of a house,

(b) a provision of a contract for the building for a person of a house for his or her occupation,

(c) a covenant or other provision of a conveyance of an interest in a house,

(d) a covenant or other provision of a lease or tenancy agreement in respect of a house,

(e) a provision of any other agreement (whether oral or in writing),

which purports to require the purchaser, the person referred to in paragraph (b), the grantee of the interest or the grantee of the lease or tenancy, as the case may be, to pay the amount referred to in subsection (2) or to indemnify another in respect of that other’s paying or liability to pay that amount shall be void.

(9) Any amount paid by the purchaser, person referred to in subsection (8)(b) or grantee of an interest or a lease or tenancy, pursuant to a provision or covenant referred to in subsection (8), may be recovered by him or her from the person to whom it is paid as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(10) This section shall not apply to permissions for development consisting of the provision of 4 or less houses, or for housing on land of 0.1 hectares or less.

(11) For the avoidance of doubt, in this section "sale", in relation to a house, includes any transaction or series of transactions whereby the vesting by the builder in another person of the interest in the land on which the house is built by the builder is effected separately from the conclusion of the arrangements under which the house is built for that other person by the builder.]