More than 43,000 homes lie vacant

MORE THAN 2,800 “ghost” estates of some 43,000 unfinished or vacant apartments and houses have been identified by the National Housing Development Survey commissioned by the Department of the Environment.

The various states of completion of the ghost developments has been quantified for the first time, with some having finished and occupied apartment blocks and houses, while others are partially constructed or have vacant plots where building has yet to begin.

Some 23,000 completed but unoccupied houses and apartments have been identified by the survey conducted between May and September last. A further 20,000 are at various stages of completion, half of which have been identified as being at “early stages” of construction. Just over 78,000 houses within incomplete estates are occupied, while 58,000 houses have permission but have not been built.

The establishment of a “high-level expert group” to devise plans for the “completion or resolution” of 2,800 estates was yesterday announced by Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran and Minister for Planning Ciarán Cuffe.

Each of the State’s 34 city and county councils were assessed by the survey. Cork County Council had by far the largest number of ghost estates with 284 unfinished or substantially vacant developments. Counties that had grown large commuter populations for Dublin city had some of the highest numbers of ghost estates with 180 identified in Wexford, 152 in Fingal, 147 in Cavan and 104 in Louth.

The problem is at its worst in western counties were the large number of unfinished estates is coupled with low populations. In addition to Cork, Kerry has 152 ghost estates, Donegal 133, Mayo129 and Roscommon has 118.

The problem was less severe in city council areas. Dublin city has 97 ghost estates, just one estate more than Leitrim – the most sparsely populated county in the country.

Galway city has 34 such estates, Cork city has just 21, while numbers are at their smallest in Waterford and Limerick cities which have just 12 estates respectively.

The group will be chaired by John O’Connor who is also chief executive of the newly established Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency which has been established to deal with undeveloped housing land bought by city and county councils. The agency has been dubbed the “Nama for local authorities”.

The group will include representatives of central and local government, the banking and construction sectors and Nama, as well as members of the professional architectural, planning and engineering institutes. It is due to report next January.

The group has been asked to focus on the scope for alternative uses for completed but vacant developments; to identify the roles and responsibilities of “key stakeholders” such as developers, councils and Nama, in the resolution of unfinished estates; to ensure sites were secure against unauthorised access; and to ensure that “securities” or bonds were provided for the completion on developments.

Speaking on the publication of the figures, Mr Finneran conceded that the bonds that had been lodged with local authorities by developers would not be adequate to finish most estates.

Some of the units would be used for long-term leasing by local authorities for social housing, he said.

Some 2,500 units had already been secured under the scheme this year, he added.

LET'S BUILD TAX BREAKS FUELLED FRENZIED BOOM

FROM THE late 1990s, tax incentives introduced by the Government led to a proliferation of unneeded housing developments.

The counties that already had the most vacant houses by the middle of the last decade were the same ones that saw the most frenzied building boom in the years preceding the crash, as developers sought to avail of capital allowances right up to the point at which they expired.

The main tax relief to create "ghost estates" was the Rural Renewal Relief, which was introduced in 1998 by then minister for finance Charlie McCreevy. It granted tax incentives on the construction of rented and owner-occupied accommodation in Leitrim, Longford and parts of Cavan, Roscommon and Sligo.

Other tax relief schemes from this era included the urban and town renewal schemes.

Mr McCreevy first sounded the death knell for the property and area-based tax incentives in 2003, although the deadlines were extended following lobbying.

In late 2005, his successor Brian Cowen indicated the schemes would be wound down and in June 2006, he announced details of their abolition on a phased basis. An element of tax relief was available up until July 2008.

LAURA SLATTERY