FISCAL-POLICY, TAXATION INCENTIVES AND INNER-CITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

This paper considers the risk and uncertainty attached to inner-city environments and analyses the use of taxation incentives as a policy instrument in generating demanded residential development in such localities. Initially an international perspective is outlined; however, particular attention is focused on Dublin, Ireland, where taxation breaks specifically orientated at both owner and occupiers and investors have been a prime influence in stimulating private sector residential development on a major scale within the central core of the city. The case is presented for the imaginative use of tax incentives in achieving effective urban regeneration. Whilst it is recognised that housing policy and mechanisms cannot simply be replicated from one situation to another, there is need for policy-makers, especially in Britain, to consider more innovative approaches to inner city housing renewal by integrating macro-economic, fiscal and housing policy objectives.