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

Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock. Many areas in our cities, towns and villages of all sizes face the blight, as was said, of vacant properties which, if brought back to use, could add to the vibrancy and provide accommodation in those areas. A suite of measures under pathway 4 to address vacancy and efficient use of existing stock includes a variety of actions to address vacancy. I welcome the opportunity to mention some of these briefly.

The Government launched the town centre first policy, which is a major policy initiative that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe life into our town centres. We also ensuring a vacant homes officer position is in all local authorities as a full-time role. As the Deputy mentioned, the Croí Cónaithe towns fund is supporting the refurbishment of vacant and derelict properties through the vacant homes refurbishment grant, which we launched in July. This is supporting the provision of serviced sites for housing to attract people to build their own homes through the ready-to-build scheme, which the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, launched in September.

Additionally, we are introducing a new programme for the use of compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, for vacant properties for resale on the open market. We have reformed the fair deal scheme to remove disincentives to selling or renting unused homes. The Department of Finance is working to introduce a vacant property tax in the near future. We have also extended the planning regulations to exempt certain vacant commercial premises from requiring planning permission to change use to residential purposes. We are supporting local authorities to engage in targeted acquisitions of vacant and underutilised properties and there is a new buy and renew element of the social housing programme to support town and village renewal. Equally, we are supporting local authorities to drive expanded takeup of the enhanced repair and leasing scheme.

As I mentioned, in July the vacant property refurbishment grant, as part the Croí Cónaithe towns fund, was launched. The grant was initially launched in respect of vacant properties in towns and villages, but I am pleased to say that, from 15 November, the expanded grant also includes eligible vacant properties in cities and rural areas. The Deputy mentioned this aspect. A grant of a maximum of up to €30,000 is available for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence, including the conversion of a property which had not previously been used for residential purposes. Where refurbishment costs are expected to exceed the standard grant of up to €30,000, a maximum top-up grant of €20,000 is available where the property is confirmed to be derelict. This brings the total grant available for a derelict property to a maximum of €50,000. The feedback regarding the grant has been positive, with 419 applications reported to the start of November. There has, therefore, been good uptake. I expect that the numbers will increase further following the expansion of the grant.

Regarding the level of the grant available, this will be kept under review, as will the operation of the scheme in general. It should be noted the grants are also available to homeowners under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. The overall support package being provided by the State is substantial. Vacant homes officers are in place in each local authority to provide applicants with further details of both schemes. I also note our Department is preparing a vacant homes strategy to capture and report on progress across all the objectives of pathway 4 and under planned actions to continue to bring vacant homes into use and to maximise the use of existing stock. It is intended to publish this strategy early in the new year.

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