The House gave preliminary approval to a bill that would give home builders a temporary reprieve from property taxes on unsold homes.

The bill allows builders to defer for up to three years the portion of property tax generated by building a new home. The builder would still have to continue to pay tax on the value of the land. The increased property taxes generated by improving the land with a home would be due when the home is sold.

The bill only applies to homes that have never been occupied. All taxes would be due in 2013.

The bill is meant to provide "temporary relief for a segment of North Carolina's economy that we all know has been hit hard," said Rep. Margaret Highsmith Dickson, a Fayetteville Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill.

Rep. Leo Daughtry, a Johnston County Republican, said his county officials told him the bill would delay payment of $1 million in taxes.

"My county commissioners asked me to give y'all a message and that is it's good to be generous and help your fellow man," Daughtry said. "They want you to do it with your own money."

The bill passed a key House vote 106-8. It needs another vote in the chamber before it can go to the Senate.

Update: The House took its final vote on the bill, which will now head to the Senate.