Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
674. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of vacant local authority homes currently boarded up or awaiting refurbishment across all county councils; the average time such properties remain vacant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38954/26]
View answerThe management and maintenance of local authority social homes, including pre-letting repairs and the re-tenanting of vacant properties, is a matter for each individual local authority under s.58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities must also ensure all tenanted properties comply with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. To this end, local authority elected members and officials must make adequate budgetary provision for housing repairs and cyclical maintenance utilising the significant housing rental income available to them as part of the annual budgetary process.
Notwithstanding, my Department will provide some €260 million as a contribution towards the remediation and maintenance of local authority homes through various funding programmes in 2026, with €40 million alone allocated to a revised Planned Maintenance and Voids Programme to specifically support the efficient turnaround of casually vacant homes by local authorities.
Data on delivery under the programme between 2014 and 2025 are available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme.
Work in relation to the 2026 programme is ongoing and data in relation to delivery will be published early in 2027.
Data on the quantum of social homes vacant at a moment in time, the length of time they've been vacant, the reasons they're vacant, and the steps being taken to bring them back to productive use, are a matter solely for local authorities and should be sought directly from them.
That said, data on the management of social homes are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in its Annual Reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These reports provide a range of information in relation to social housing stock, including levels of vacancy and average turnaround times in local authority owned properties.
The most recent NOAC report for 2024 is available at www.noac.ie/noac_publications/report-77-noac-performance-indicator-report-2024/.
