Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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680. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant and derelict housing units across the country; the plans that are pending to regenerate these buildings for housing purposes and to improve the environmental look of towns and villages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40283/21]

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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701. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant and derelict housing units in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40471/21]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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797. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant dwelling houses per county in tabular form; his views on whether bringing these units back into use could help address part of the housing shortage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41308/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 680, 701 and 797 together.

The Department does not hold the data on the amount of vacant or derelict housing units in the State.  Under section 8(5) of the Derelicts Sites Act, 1990, a copy of the derelict sites register for any local authority can be inspected at the offices of that authority during office hours. Therefore, the specified information in relation to derelict sites, which may include housing units, may be requested from individual local authorities. 

My Department is committed to ensuring that existing housing stock is utilised to its fullest extent including providing a targeted, effective and co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy across Ireland.There are a range of measures to assist in meeting housing needs by ensuring that our existing housing stock is used to the greatest extent possible.

The National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy, was published in 2018, and contains a range of objectives and key actions to be pursued in partnership with stakeholders and agencies across the housing sector to address vacancy in our housing stock. The Strategy is underpinned by a number of supports and guidance put in place by my Department to assist in bringing vacant housing stock back into use including:

- The Repair and Leasing Scheme which assists private property owners, local authority and Approved Housing Bodies to utilise existing vacant housing stock throughout the country as social housing.  The scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required standard for a rental property.  The maximum loan for property repair available under the Repair and Lease Scheme is €60,000.

- The Buy and Renew Schemeparticularly focuses on older vacant homes to help tackle the problem of dereliction and improve the appearance of the community.  It provides the option for suitable properties to be purchased by local authorities,  rather than leased, if that is the preference of the owners.

- In December 2018 my Department published the Bringing Back Homes Manual for the Reuse of Existing  Buildings.  Revitalising our main streets through well designed refurbishment of residential units, particularly above shops, could help to rejuvenate smaller town centres and city streets as well as produce more houses.

To further support this work at local authority level, my Department has secured funding for each local authority to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office. The provision of central funding reinforces the capacity of the Department’s Vacant Homes Unit to liaise with and seek information/statistics from a dedicated contact point within each local authority. The Vacant Homes Office plays a key role in the co-ordination of this work within each local authority.

The innovative website vacanthomes.ie was developed by Mayo County Council in July 2017 on behalf of the local government sector to serve as a central portal for individuals to anonymously log possible vacant homes and to alert local authorities so that they can then follow up with the registered owners. It is a key tool in the effort to identify and bring long-term vacant homes back into use.

This source of locally generated information is proving useful in supplementing the country-wide analysis on vacancy and in mobilising communities to assist local authorities in developing and implementing a targeted approach to deal with vacancy.  The website also provides useful information for property owners on how to bring their vacant properties back into use and on available financial supports.

The latest available data on vacanthomes.ie shows that 5,883 properties have been logged on the website. 164 of the properties logged were in County Clare. A breakdown of the properties logged on the website by County is in the table attached.

The Government set out its housing priorities in the Programme for Government across numerous areas, including homelessness, affordable home ownership, private and social housing delivery, rent reform and planning and my Department is focused on moving those priorities forward.

To deliver on these commitments, my colleague Minister O'Brien will publish a new housing policy and action plan 'Housing for All' in the coming weeks which will provide a whole of Government approach to housing policy and is at an advanced stage of development at present.

Vacanthomes.ie Properties Logged to Date