Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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168. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on call 3 for the urban regional development fund, including the number of projects that applied for funding, the number that have received funding, and an update on progress with 1,297 vacant or derelict properties identified by local authorities that were part of the funding applications. [30887/25]

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 ('calls') of funding provided under the URDF with approximately €1.9 billion allocated. Under Calls 1 and Call 2, 132 proposals comprising some 430 individual projects were approved for funding.

While Calls 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 in this respect. The properties were submitted by local authorities, assessed by my Department, and identified as being suitable for inclusion. 946 properties were initially identified for inclusion. With further assessment and engagement by local authorities throughout 2024, properties have continued to be added to the approved acquisition programme with the Q4 2024 report having 1,297 properties on the approved Call 3 programme.

The current total of residential and commercial properties approved by my Department for inclusion on Local Authority’s Approved Call 3 Programmes is 1,377. Of these, 64 properties were acquired by local authorities, with a further 68 in the process of being acquired either by agreement or by CPO.

The key objective of URDF Call 3 is to ensure properties are brought out of vacancy and dereliction. The use of Call 3 funding to acquire properties is only one of the ways in which the programme achieves this objective. 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 without the need for further local authority intervention. Some 361 properties are being brought back into use by property owners in this manner and these properties will be monitored by local authorities to ensure the properties are brought back into use. URDF Call 3 has also been a catalyst for another 83 properties being dealt with under different housing programmes.