Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
197. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage number of vacant homes in Dublin, by local authority; the steps being taken to reduce the number of vacant homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4142/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe management and maintenance of local authority social homes, including pre-letting repairs to 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, they 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 these obligations, 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. This includes €40 million under a revised Planned Maintenance and Voids Programme to specifically support this work. Programme requirements and funding allocations will be notified to local authorities in due course.
Local authorities will always have a level of vacancy in their housing stock. This will fluctuate over time as tenancy surrender and re-letting of dwellings is an ongoing process. Accordingly, data on the number of vacant homes are not routinely collated by my Department.
That said, statistics in relation to social homes, at a point in time, 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 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/.
