New report will show number of empty homes well above 300,000

With so much vacant property about, councils are now actively seeking homes to rent from a minimum of 10 years for those on waiting lists, writes FRANK McDONALDEnvironment Editor

A REPORT being finalised by planners at UCD for publication this month is expected to conclude that the number of empty houses or apartments in the State may be even higher than the 302,625 figure suggested recently by their colleagues in NUI Maynooth. Dr Brendan Williams, lead author of the UCD report, told The Irish Times that “our figures might be higher”.

He had also visited some uncompleted housing estates last weekend and they painted a “bleak picture” of the current levels of vacant housing.

The 300,000-plus figure, calculated by the Maynooth-based National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (Nirsa), took a lot of people by surprise – especially as the Construction Industry Federation had been sticking to a vacancy rate of around 40,000.

It was also way above the Department of the Environment’s estimate of between 122,000 and 147,000 – figures that exclude abandoned homes, which Nirsa’s didn’t. Relying on a DKM report, it said this was a more reliable measure of the excess stock over “normal” levels.

One large firm of estate agents complained that the Nirsa figure was based on a “sweeping assumption” that over 50 per cent of all housing units completed since April 2006 were now vacant – on top of the number recorded as being vacant in the 2006 Census.

Nonetheless, it is clear that there is a very significant overhang especially in rural counties such as Leitrim, where construction was fuelled by the Upper Shannon Rural Renewal Scheme of tax incentives, introduced in 1998 by then finance minister Charlie McCreevy.

Housing minister Michael Finneran has said he wants to see some of the vacant houses or apartments being used to provide homes for the 56,000 applicants currently on local authority waiting lists – under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (Ras) run by his department.

The Dublin local authorities are actively seeking to lease “suitable residential property” for occupation by their social housing applicants. All types and sizes of dwellings are required in all areas, with leases running from a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 20. South Dublin County Council is also implementing a policy of social integration by carefully managing tenure mix so that the quantity of social housing in any apartment block or street will not exceed 10 to 15 per cent of the total number of homes in that location.

“To this end, we will not accept whole apartment blocks under the leasing scheme. We would also prefer, where we are taking a multiple of homes in one development, that they be scattered randomly throughout the development rather than clustered together.” Mick Fagan, Ras leasing programme manager for the Dublin region, said the terms of leases are a matter for negotiation. “The council will maintain and insure the properties for the full lease term and manage the tenancies” – thus taking over the landlord’s responsibilities.

A new online service, Click2.ie, has been set up to assist property owners who wish to make houses or apartments available under the Ras programme; it is already running a pilot scheme in the South Dublin area and will be rolling it out to other areas.

Conor Mohan, who established the new service, said it was intended to become the premier website for landlords wishing to let their properties for social housing applicants as well as local authorities seeking to procure vacant properties for social housing.

Landlords have the option to list their property on Click2Rent, which is targeted at tenants on social welfare and/or in receipt of rent supplement. The listing fee is €24 per property, and there is also a service charge of €42 per month – deducted from rents collected.

Click2.ie