The Living City Initiative is a targeted measure which is aimed at specific areas in need of regeneration. It offers income or corporation tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred in the refurbishment and conversion of qualifying residential and commercial buildings located within Special Regeneration Areas (SRAs) of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.
Budget 2026 announced a number of enhancements to the Living City Initiative to strengthen the scheme, with the changes provided for in Finance Act 2025. It was also announced that the scheme would be extended to the five regional centres as set out in the National Planning Framework, namely, Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo. The process to extend the scheme to these towns is currently underway.
The reason for the extension of the scheme to the towns identified in the Budget Statement is that they are the five regional centres set out in the National Planning Framework. In particular, National Policy Objective 15 of the Framework provides for the application of:
"...a tailored approach to urban development...strengthening Ireland’s overall urban structure, particularly in the Northern and Western and Midland Regions, to include the regional centres of Sligo and Letterkenny in the North-West, Athlone in the Midlands and cross-border networks focused on the Letterkenny-Derry North-West City Region and Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry on the Dublin-Belfast corridor....".
There are a range of non-tax supports to encourage the objectives in the Deputy's question, without the geographic restrictions which apply in the case of the Living City Initiative.
In particular, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant which is currently available to individuals to bring into use vacant and derelict properties. Furthermore, recent changes have been agreed to the existing grant scheme announced by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, including the introduction of a Vacant Above the Shop Grant, with stepped funding of up to €140,000 to support bringing ‘above the shop’ vacant space into residential use.
Other direct expenditure supports include the Repair and Leasing Scheme and SEAI grants which also assist in bringing into residential use vacant above the shop space.
