Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this discussion and thank the committee Chair and members for their consideration of this very important report to inform Government policy.

The topic of urban regeneration is central to solving many of the challenges that face our country. Urban decay, retail vacancy and depopulation are unwelcome symptoms of the challenges we continue to face in our towns and cities. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, and I will continue to study the recommendations of this report and will comprehensively respond to them in the near future. The recommendations generally span many of the themes the Government is addressing. In that respect, and before I respond to the full report, I welcome this opportunity to advise Deputies on what the Government is doing and what can be done on these themes.

The Government launched the town centre first policy in February last. The policy is very much aimed at progressing the challenges in urban areas and towns around the country, in particular tackling the issues of vacancy, local transport, quality public spaces, housing and economic development that are very important in delivering regeneration in its broadest sense. The provisions of the town centre first policy are an important step forward in highlighting the importance of urban regeneration and the need to properly develop and invest in our urban areas. Town centre first provides a range of tangible staffing, funding and other resource supports to those seeking to progress and deliver regeneration initiatives. These measures are aimed at both local and national level to ensure co-ordination and delivery of the benefits to the citizen wherever they can be experienced. I note as well that town centre first is a collaborative, bottom-up approach aimed at animating communities towards heritage-led regeneration.

Addressing vacancy and maximising the use of existing housing stock is a primary objective of this Government, as demonstrated by one of our four pathways dedicated solely to this area in the new Housing for All strategy. Housing for All outlines a suite of measures aimed at addressing vacancy in a co-ordinated and robust manner. These include a local authority-led programme to help local authorities buy or compulsory purchase 2,500 vacant homes in their areas, which can be sold on the open market, ensuring these homes do not lie vacant; reform of the fair deal scheme to remove disincentives to selling or renting unused homes; and the Croí Cónaithe towns initiative, which will be delivered by local authorities for the provision of serviced sites for housing to attract people to build their own homes and to support the refurbishment of vacant properties, enabling people to live in small towns and villages in a sustainable way. These measures are added to the possible vacant property tax being considered by the Department of Finance, in addition to the residential zoned land tax, which was included in the Finance Act 2021 to incentivise the activation of residential development land, including vacant or idle mixed-use land in settlements, as a replacement for the vacant site levy.

In terms of vacancy and dereliction data measurement, which is outlined in the report, I appreciate the significance given by the committee’s recommendations to the accuracy and completeness of data on this important issue. The committee was briefed on the range of available national data sources and also some of the current limitations to this information. Data on vacancy emerging from Census 2022 will need to be carefully examined in this regard. However, there is no doubt a serious and widespread vacancy issue exists across the country and further investigation is required to better understand the nature and extent of the problem in order to most effectively deploy funding and resources to tackle it.

My Department is developing a survey methodology for locating vacant housing at local level, in conjunction with the Housing Agency, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and the local government sector to more accurately determine the levels of vacancy. I note there are other methodologies out there, such as the collaborative town centre health check, which gets to the heart of some of the vacancy issues across the country.

While the committee’s recommendations on repair and leasing are being examined, it is important to point out that the existing scheme has already been augmented since that scheme was established. The 2022 allocation of €12 million for the repair and leasing scheme will support bringing more than 120 properties back into use and the ongoing work of the local authority vacant homes units. The repair and leasing scheme is a crucial initiative in tackling vacancy under Housing for All because in addition to providing social housing, it also has additional benefits in terms of regeneration, employment and investment in local areas. It assists private property owners, local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs, in utilising existing vacant housing unit stock throughout the country for social housing. The scheme provides upfront funding for any works necessary to bring properties up to the required standard and in return, the property owner agrees to lease the dwelling to the local authority to be used for social housing for a period of between five and 25 years.

Recent changes in the scheme to assist in delivery include the November 2020 increase in the maximum cost of repairs allowable under the scheme from €40,000 to €60,000, including VAT. Local authorities have reported increased interest in the scheme and it is expected that this will be seen in delivery of units in the coming years. Where a property owner is bringing more than one dwelling in a single development into the scheme, the funds available, for example, €60,000 including VAT per dwelling, may be apportioned between a number of dwellings once total funding for all dwellings does not exceed €60,000 per dwelling, subject to a maximum spending limit. Housing for All committed to supporting local authorities to drive an expanded uptake of the scheme.

Deputies will note that the primary objective of the vacant site levy is to act as a mechanism to incentivise the development of vacant and underutilised sites in urban areas for both the provision of housing and the development and renewal of land, thereby facilitating the most efficient use of such land and sites, enabling them to be brought into beneficial use, rather than allowing them to remain dormant and undeveloped.

The vacant site levy provisions under the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 provide that the levy will apply to vacant sites exceeding 0.05 ha on residential or regeneration land, as designated in local development plans that meet the relevant criteria. The levy can be applied to vacant sites regardless of ownership, either public or private. In this context, local authorities and public bodies are liable for the charge if the criteria for a vacant site are met.

The Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure the land does not become or continue to be a derelict site. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure any land within their functional area does not become or continue to be a derelict site. Again, noting the theme of enforcement in the recommendations, it is important to recognise that the Department intends to engage with local authorities in order to ensure more proactive and effective enforcement of the provisions of the legislation. At the moment, it is considered that the Act is not being implemented as effectively as it could be, nor is it achieving its full potential. The Department also intends to review the Act with a view to improving the effectiveness as it has been place since 1990.

On resourcing, the recommendations also refer to the importance of qualified and resourced departments and sections in our local authorities as well as within the Department to support urban regeneration objectives. I met recently with the Association of Architectural Conservation Officers. Again, we have a huge inconsistency across the country where many local authorities do not even have an architectural conservation officer, ACO, in place. The Department is committed to carrying out a review with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, to try to address those deficits. ACOs play a critical role in trying to unlock the potential of, in particular, heritage buildings across the country.

Recent resourcing initiatives to support objectives in addressing vacancy includes the local authorities’ vacant homes action plans, all of which have been developed to identify the scale of vacant homes in their administrative areas and to set ambitious but realistic targets of the number of vacant homes that can ultimately be brought back into use, whether for private sale or rent or for social housing purposes.

My Department is also ensuring each local authority is provided with a vacant homes officer operating on a full-time basis. This resource will create a central point of contact for those interested in bringing existing buildings into residential use and assisting owners in addressing regulatory requirements related to this process. This will work to identify and develop local initiatives to tackle vacancy in concert with the wider local authority and others.

The urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, was launched in 2018 to deliver more compact and sustainable development in support of the objectives of the national planning framework and the national development plan. The fund provides part-funding for projects that will enable a greater proportion of residential and mixed-use development to be delivered within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and large towns while also ensuring more parts of our urban areas can become attractive and vibrant places in which people choose to work and live.

The significant URDF pipeline of projects is focused on integrated strategic development areas, combining a number of elements and schemes that support wider climate action objectives and liveability factors within our cities and towns. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 constraints, restrictions and consequential economic impacts, the programme of URDF supported transformational regeneration and rejuvenation projects will take on an increased importance in its potential in the medium to longer term to provide a catalyst for economic and social renewal. While programmes such as the URDF and the sister rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, operated by the Department of Rural and Community Development, are primarily intended to support wider town regeneration, these programmes also facilitate optimal use and reuse of existing properties and contribute to the creation of conditions conducive to housing developments in towns.

Combined, this investment is making a substantial difference to the liveability of these areas. Further calls for funding under the URDF will separately address the needs of cities and towns, and aligned with the approach under the RRDF, which deals with towns below a population of 10,000, specific criteria will be included to encourage the activation of vacant properties within the overall vision for towns and to bring stock back into productive use.

I look forward to the discourse and debate. This is an area of great importance for Government. We know that we have a great challenge ahead of us but the suite of Government policies and plans I have outlined go some way towards addressing these challenges. I welcome this report. The Minister of State, Deputy Burke, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I will give it active consideration and will see how it dovetails with the projects and plans that are already in place.

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