Ms Maria Graham:

I thank the committee for the invitation to speak today. As the Chair mentioned, I am joined by Mr. Paul Hogan, principal planning adviser, and Mr. Patrick O'Sullivan, who deals with vacancy, among other things, in the Department.

In the interests of time, I will highlight some of the things from the opening statement that members have. As the Chair mentioned, I will focus on Housing for All, which recognises that at a time of such high housing need, we need to ensure the houses we already have are being fully used. A specific pathway outlines actions to tackle the blight of vacancy and dereliction, which is a feature of many of our towns and villages. The imminent launch of the Government's town centre policy will set a framework for local authorities to work in partnership with local stakeholders to tackle many of the issues that affect not only the choices of tenure and the supply of housing in towns, but also the wider economic and social progress.

I will address some issues in the statement around funding, regulation and enabling actions, and we have separately provided a note on data issues, because there is a very real need for location-specific data that allow for action plans to be developed that are specific to the local need and informed by best practice. That is why we are focused on improving the data and research on vacancy, including through the harvesting of information from local property tax returns.

Turning to funding, it would appear there are two types of areas of vacancy and dereliction that need addressing. There are urban areas of some scale that require significant regeneration, reimagining and repurposing to meet the housing and other needs of the areas. There are also individual properties that are suitable for redevelopment for residential use. In terms of broader regeneration, significant funding has been made available through the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, and the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, and town and village renewal schemes.

Through the URDF almost €1.3 billion has been allocated to regeneration projects in cities and €323 million has been allocated to projects in towns, in addition to the rural funding of €255 million. Housing for All and the national development plan reflect the proposed separation of the URDF into streams for cities and towns in the future, and to the inclusion of specific criteria on tackling vacancy. This is part of a wider objective of supporting integrated urban development on brownfield sites in line with the national planning framework. In support of the town centre first policy, a further URDF call for projects for towns is planned for later this year. That will follow on from the fourth call for RRDF projects which is currently under way through the Department of Rural and Community Development.

In other areas where significant regeneration is not required, the refurbishment of property for residential use can enhance the vibrancy of towns and provide new and broader housing choices. It can provide private housing in towns at affordable levels where there are currently few options, and it can provide new options for people with specific housing needs who also would benefit from proximity to other community and social services. A substantially increased housing budget is available for social and affordable housing. The Department is very open to considering options to refurbish buildings to meet these needs as part of those programmes. In addition, Housing for All reflects a number of specific options such as the new Croí Cónaithe towns fund, which the Deputy mentioned and which is focused on sites and the refurbishment of sites and vacant properties in towns; programmes for the compulsory purchase of appropriate property and reuse of public buildings; measures to unlock potential of heritage buildings to meet housing need; a new urban scheme under the European regional development fund that is being progressed to target vacancy and dereliction issues; and the use of the better energy homes grant to support the retrofit of vacant properties. We will host a workshop for vacant homes officers later this week, which will assist us in finalising the terms and conditions of the Croí Cónaithe and compulsory purchase programmes.

Housing for All also recognises the need for some regulatory change to increase the flow of vacant properties to the market. This includes the reform of the fair deal scheme and the extension of planning exemptions to 2025 to complement the town centre first objectives. The latter regulations will be presented to the committee shortly for consideration. The Department is also engaging with local authorities to see if improvements can be made to the Derelict Sites Act, while the Law Reform Commission, LRC, is considering the compulsory purchase legislation.

While the provision of funding and clarity of regulation is important in tackling vacancy, there are challenges. It is often riskier, involving more time and sometimes greater cost, to refurbish than to build a new property. However, the costs of dereliction and vacancy in our cities, towns and villages are very high in societal terms.

There is an important role for these projects to provide vision for towns, support pathfinder projects and provide encouragement and a one-stop shop approach to guide people through the development process. In 2018 we issued our Bringing Back Homes manual to try to help people in bringing properties back into use. Housing for All commits to vacant homes officers becoming full time and we issued a circular on that earlier this week. Advisory support will be provided by the Housing Agency for some of the programmes. Further supports will be given to local authorities as part of the town centre first approach.

In conclusion, the Department is firmly committed to tackling vacancy and dereliction as part of Housing for All. This sits within the context of the overall national planning framework, which highlights the need for substantial levels of housing to come from the developments in the existing built-up areas of our towns and cities. We are happy to answer any questions that the committee may have.