Sir, – The fact that the 2016 census indicates an estimated 198,000 vacant homes should be responded to actively, given the backdrop of a national housing crisis ("Number of vacant houses 'scandalous'", Front Page, July 15th).
The advice of the Housing Agency (as detailed in the recent Oireachtas Housing and Homelessness Committee report) to provide new incentives and supports to the estimated 130,000 on local authority waiting lists nationwide should be pursued, with the compilation of a national list of vacant homes being undertaken to facilitate such an initiative.
The current momentum regarding solutions to the housing crisis is too focused presently on the future construction of high-rise, high-density accommodation in the Dublin area, but such an overcentralisation would be likely to impose too much of a burden on traffic, schools and other infrastructure within what is, after all, one of the smallest counties in the country in terms of size.
The drastic change in suburban character imposed by such developments would be in the main unpopular among existing residents. A general rebalancing in terms of strategic housing strategy is therefore desirable, availing of existing vacant stock as the fulcrum.
The cost to the State from new construction to meet demand adequately for social housing units is colossal. If in theory, for example, new units would be built at a cost of €150,000 on average for 5,800 existing applicants on the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown waiting list, this would cost €870 million. It is simply impossible for that list to be fully accommodated by new construction within the county area.
A vacant site levy proposal has already been put forward, but additionally the introduction of a vacant homes levy, similar to the one in France, may need to be considered. Vancouver in Canada is preparing to adopt such a tax. – Yours, etc,
Cllr JOHN KENNEDY,
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown
County Council,
County Hall, Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.