Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 24 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. John Brannigan:

We are aware that we are running around the 6% vacancy rate within our stock. That largely came around due to assisting transfers from one local authority property to another. We introduced a policy to our strategic policy committee such that it would take ten years to be eligible for a transfer unless there were medical grounds. That is starting to have a significant impact. Of the 128 vacant properties, 35 of them have arisen because of transfer requests being approved. Previously that number would have been sitting at 60 or 70 properties.