John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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480. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for a breakdown, by county, of the 1,200 properties which are long-term vacant and derelict residential and commercial buildings and have been acquired by local authorities and approved for funding under the urban regeneration and development funding (call 3); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15492/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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A flagship element of Project Ireland 2040, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was one of four funds established under the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018 – 2027. Launched in 2018 with committed Exchequer funding of €2 billion, the review of the NDP in 2021 extended the URDF programme to 2030.

To date, there have been three rounds of funding provided under the URDF with approximately €1.9 billion allocated. Under Call 1 and Call 2, 132 proposals comprising of some 430 individual projects were approved for funding. While Call 1 and 2 were for specific urban regeneration and development projects, in January 2023 a third round of funding to address long term vacancy and dereliction, and support the key objectives of Housing for All and Town Centre First, was announced. A shift in focus from previous rounds of funding, Call 3 provided a €150 million revolving fund for local authorities to acquire long term vacant or derelict properties in URDF eligible towns and cities.

Acquired properties are then offered by local authorities for private sale at market value to those who in return will commit to bringing the property back into residential use. Proceeds from the sale of these properties will be used to replenish the fund, allowing a local authority to establish a rolling programme to tackle long-term vacancy and dereliction without a requirement for borrowing and the associated financial risk.

In terms of URDF funding provided under Call 3, €142.5 million has been allocated to local authorities to date. As a signal of Government commitment to this initiative local authorities received 20% of their financial allocations by way of forward funding, so that they were well resourced to begin addressing this issue.

In Q3 2023, following a consultation process with the local authority sector, formal approval in principle was issued to each local authority for a programme of property acquisitions. The properties were submitted by local authorities, assessed by my Department, and identified as being suitable for inclusion. With further assessment and engagement by local authorities throughout 2024, properties have continued to be added to the approved acquisition programme.

The most recent (Q4 2024) report on Call 3 that was provided to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform shows that a total of 1,297 residential and commercial properties were approved by my Department for inclusion on Local Authority’s Approved Programmes. Of these, 47 properties were acquired by local authorities, with a further 70 in the process of being acquired either by agreement or by CPO.

It should be noted that properties approved for inclusion in the programme are not immediately acquired by local authorities. An initial engagement by the local authority with the property owner provides an opportunity for that owner to bring the property back into use in the first instance and without the need for further local authority intervention. Some 262 properties are being brought back into use by property owners in this manner and these properties will be monitored by local authorities to ensure follow-through.

The table attached, taken from the report, provides a breakdown of URDF Call 3 by local authority, showing the number of properties on their programmes, funding details, and the status of all properties. My Department is currently working on the Q1 2025 report.