Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THERE ARE 30,000 fewer vacant houses in Ireland than previously thought.
Last May, a report from the Housing Agency prepared for the Oireachtas housing and homelessness committee put the figure of vacant houses at 230,000, or 289,451 including holiday homes.
The results of the 2016 census put the figure at 198,358 – or 259,000 including holiday homes.
A spokeswoman from the Housing Agency confirmed to TheJournal.ie that the figure in their May report was based on the 2011 census.
It said that this was the best available data to hand at the time, and it made this clear in their submission to the committee.
Overall, the number of vacant dwellings has fallen over the last five years by 29,889 (-13.8%) between 2011 and 2016.
There remain almost 6,000 homeless people in Ireland.
Housing action plan
It remains to be seen whether the updated figures will affect the forthcoming housing action plan, due to be announced by Minister For Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney next Tuesday.
Almost one in every 10 (9%) dwellings in Dublin City are empty, a higher rate than each of counties Kildare, Meath or Wicklow.
Of the vacant housing stock, over 2,751 units are owned by local authorities, according to recent statistics released by local authorities to Fianna Fáil under Freedom of Information legislation.
Homeless charities and Sinn Féin want compulsory purchase orders or levies on some vacant dwellings, a plan that was considered ‘extreme’ by the Housing Agency in May.
Economic growth
The county with the highest percentage of empty dwellings remains Leitrim, with a 29.5% vacancy rate.
Next come Donegal, Kerry, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Clare, Wexford, Cavan, County Galway, Longford and County Waterford, North Tipperary and County Cork.
Multinationals are increasingly viewing the homelessness crisis in Ireland as an obstacle to economic growth.
Intel and Apple recently called on the government to address the lack of housing for staff, while business lobby group Ibec wants €1 billion to be spent on social housing to boost the economy.
In a statement on the 2016 census data, the Housing Agency said we need to bring as much vacant housing back into use as realistically possible, to help address the housing shortage.
Drops in population
Agency spokesman David Silke said: “These figures show that stock management must be a priority, alongside building new homes.
“There are homes out there that can be accessed quickly, and relatively cheaply if we can put in place a system to manage this process.”
Overall, more people left Ireland in the period from 2011 to 2016 than returned or arrived here, according to Census 2016. The overall net migration was -28,558.
Galway, Limerick, Mayo, Donegal – and South County Dublin – saw the largest drops in population.
County Donegal lost 6,731 people, more than double the net outflow of Co Limerick (-3,375), County Galway (-3,168), and Co Mayo (-3,246).
South County Dublin – which includes the suburbs of Tallaght, Lucan, Clondalkin, Rathfarnham and Terenure – saw net outward migration of 4,271 people from 2011 to 2016.
Only three counties “experienced net inflows of any meaningful amount”, the census report added.
Cities
The five cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford have all grown faster than their surrounding counties.
After falling during the previous census period of 2006 to 2011, by -0.2 per cent, Cork City has grown 5.4 per cent, compared with 4.2 per cent for the county.
Dublin City gained 7,257 people, while Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown administrative area, also in south Dublin, gained 4,066.
Stop fannying about and talking, just do it, ffs.
A lot of houses, unfinished and in Nama but in wrong locations. Broadband in rural areas are poor, so businesses won’t relocate outwards towards these areas and not enough being done to address job creation outside main urban areas.
Ronan i think it would actually serve some good if that sentence was emblazoned on the wall of the dail chamber
meanwhile landlords who are in nama are evicting tenants so properties can be sold at fractional prices to vulture funds
ff/fg take yet another bow for this disgrace, we see your “friend” in the eu, top job dweller baraosso got a nice job on the board of goldman sach’s this week yet nothing reported in irish media
And yet every day our so-called-leaders try to tell us what’s actually an obstacle to multinationals, what we want and don’t want, and refuse to listen to listen to the unwashed electorate. By ignoring logic and such things as facts they consistently mange to destroy almost every opportunity they have to make something of this country. A pity.
Upgrade rural areas.
Plenty of willing workers and villages very keen to expand and have services expand too.
It’s no surprise that the highest rates of house vacancy are along the west of Ireland. There’s no jobs over for people to fill those vacancy, which is why those same places have the highest out-migration rates.
Either attract business there or build suitable housing where there is business… You can’t have one without the other!
Exactly no jobs. Most town’s are on their knees. It is worth noting however the report includes holiday homes of which the likes of Mayo, Galway and Kerry have plenty.
Not all of the 198,000 houses are in the West, I’m sure we can find 6,000 vacant homes that aren’t a million miles from the 6,000 homeless that need them!
Ah good old Sinn Fein wants compulsory purchase order or levies placed on people because it must be only the rich like Gerry Adams that have these property like this. Out of interest how many of these homes are actually habitable. There a number of vacant property near me. I certainly would like to live in any of them. The old lady in one of them moved out over 10 years ago as the rats had taken over.
Civil servants justifying longer holidays, substantially more beneficial pension packs and sick pay entitlements than the private sector.
Present this false data in the private sector and you’d be fired.
You can’t blame the government – Minister Coveney doesn’t go into their databases and nine the information himself.
Bloated, over compensated, over protected civil service.
This information was just released. Previous information was the most accurTe available at that time, and both are shocking figures btw. Shows the dilapidation of our areas and complete waste of housing stock.
What was he supposed to do about the figures though, run a one-man census a few weeks before the actual one?
Private sector do nationally representative surveys every day. That’ll give you a good yard stick.
@The IMF are here, if public sector is so great then why aren’t you working in it? Is it because the money is far less than what you get in public sector? Or the terms of employment are so much worse? Or is it the fact that your boss in the public sector is Enda Kenny? All three turned me off to be honest!
The government dishing out more false facts . What’s new
It’s the housing agency as far as I can see that’s been accused of using false facts. How can we expect people to have foresight about the next census coming up. Not only did they use the only officially available figures but I understand it was stated clearly on their report that they were going by the most recent census figures available at that time. Sensationalism in headlines.
There’s your social housing sorted.
Have been hearing numerous social housing stories of people refusing to live outside of Dublin when offered social housing elsewhere. The sense of entitlement amongst some people nowadays is staggering. They should be told tough titty, this is what you’re offered, take it or leave it.
As a frontline healthcare worker I can easily point to other areas where the money would be more wisely spent.
I would agree Jose the balancing of rights and entitlements is important, but the enforced uprooting of a person from their familial and social support structures can cause many problems down the road (and increased demand on government assistance)
Im not a landlord. I dont even own my own home the bank does . But in all seriousness . What right does the government have to force private home owners to open their houses to homeless or renters . Its their property and maybe they want to keep it the way they like it. I know a few friends of mine living abroad that wont rent out their houses anymore because of damage caused to their houses by renters. So i wouldnt blame them .
its the notion of the social good Fian, its in the Constitution
Irish Property News, the social good article as you called it is the Directive Principles of Social Policy section contaned in Article 45 in the Constitution. This Article is intended for guidance only and the principles set forth in it are not cognisable by any Court under any of the provisions of the Constitution. They are specifically for the general guidance of the Oireachtas. They do not override property rights which are cognisable by the Courts. So Fian is perfectly correct. No electorate in their right mind would hand their property rights over to politicians no matter how principled or well intentioned the politician.
John R youre not read-up on your case law…
Usual tripe trotted out by government press offices. Don’t believe the hype.
Is the government looking for a pat on the back because the figure is “only” 200,000???
From what i understand being self employed in ireland is very difficult from tax to health etc. If they were to make it easier to open business and be self employed or started some sort of hub or incentive in Leitrim or Done gal or places that have been abandoned people would flock back there. Craft people, the eveey man etc. It would boost the towns then the population. It would attract only the hard working which would please even the snobbiest. People won’t go where there are no jobs but if they have more incentive to work for themselves…teach a man to fish and all that
As a small business owner I would say just one thing. DONT.
The hours, stress and work involved in running a small company is insane and at the end of the day you get very little out of it.
You will almost certainly be paying any emploees more than you take out youself.
You will be spending 30%+ of your time just dealing with red tape and paperwork.
You will have very little time to spend with you family.
The finacial “rewards” are none existing unless you deal in cash. Tax man will take it all and give you a nice little pat on the pack for a job well done while you stand there with empty pockets.
If at all possible get a 9-5 job, walk home at the end of the day and relax and enjoy your familiy and friends. Do NOT start a business and loose all that. You will never get those important years back.
Epo Eire, funny that you said teach a man to fish…
That was the main trade in the west but because we have allowed super trawlers fish in those same waters it’s impossible for them to make a living.
It’s the same with farming.
Everyone wants cheap food, we are not really going to reverse that trend
Why is this shocking? Was based on latest available data, from time of last census. Was said at time of initial press release. Biggest thing from this is that it seems people aren’t big on rural living these days from County list provided. Add migration crisis to the homeless one.
Holiday homes,not occupied night of census. Might be different if held early August. Then we might have blue spots in D4.
Why are people surprised at these figures? A lot of vacant homes in remote rural areas? Why is this surprising? All over the world people are moving to cities and towns. That’s where the wealth is. That’s where the jobs are. That where the opportunities are. So we have loads of vacant homes in places where nobody wants to live including the local population. Has does this solve our housing problem? We needs homes where people are working. Most of these vacant homes are a symptom of all that was wrong with the Celtic Tiger. Huge sums of money wasted building homes in the wrong places. We need to spend money wisely building homes where the demand exists and if there are vacant dwellings in those areas then trying to get those dwellings released into the supply chain.
So the housing agency used the only available figures in the report and the headlines make it sound like they were dishonest. So there are now 198,000 instead of 230,000 vacant houses. Don’t think it changes their argument one iota.
I wonder how many of these vacant properties are NAMA owned. They should be the first to be used for social housing, as they are owned by the taxpayer.
Or is it that they are earmarked for vulture funds. To be rolled out by them as rental stock, as the mortgage-to-rent agenda becomes a reality for people.
Under neoliberalism, the idea of home ownership is being wiped out. There is more profit in renting and more control on people and how they spend their money.
There’s a very dangerous agenda behind all of this. That homelessness and eviction courts is government policy is a clue to this agenda.
A lot could be done immediately to ease the housing crisis. The reason there’s even a crisis is down to successive governments pandering to neoliberal ideology. Bend the rules if you have to. If there was a banking crisis or big business was struggling, then the rulebook would be thrown out the window and rewritten. When it comes to the masses however, the “rules” must be religiously adhered to.
Perish the thought that people at the bottom of the social ladder might receive any assistance from the state other than subsistence. It would affect the bottom line. It would interfere with the markets. Rent allowance is deemed acceptable as it subsidises the landlord class. Social housing however is not.
Unfortunately we are in an era when property rights override all others. We’re catching up with the US. All we need now is to arm The Guards and teach them to shoot black people.
we are taught to fear and hate the poor and underprivileged, through selective reporting and demonisation (particularly evident in the discourse on criminal justice), and it bleeds through
Not to fear come next Thursday its holiday time, three months this year for our elected officials. Thoses holiday homes will be busy for a few weeks with civil servants taking a break from the endless meetings about meetings, the business of sick notes will be redundant because nobody gets sick on there own time, that’s Union policy. Maybe it’s a bit ironic for multinationals to involved themselves when they don’t pay taxes in our unofficial tax haven instead corrupt our GDP figures with manufacturing jobs in China increasing the amount of monies paid to fund Europe’s Eurocrats. Vulture funds using charity status to suck billions more money in profits away instead of paying taxes. The homeless, the sick, the unemployed and those with mental health problems are all just meal tickets for civil servants sure if the fixed this country’s problems there would be no need for quangos or goverment departments or even ministers then the holiday would truly be over for good.
Holiday homes, not occupied night of census. Hold it early August and we might have less blue areas
In west and more in D4.
have your say