Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 March 2026
262. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the percentage of the €150 million in urban regeneration and development funding circulated to local authorities that has been drawn down to tackle dereliction, to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17661/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraA flagship element of Project Ireland 2040, the €2.5 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is supporting a programme of significant transformational projects that will contribute to the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan.
To date, there have been three rounds ('calls') of funding provided under the URDF with approximately €1.9 billion allocated to date. While Calls 1 and 2 were for specific urban regeneration and development projects, in January 2023 a third round of funding to address long-term vacancy and dereliction, and support the key objectives of Housing for All and Town Centre First, was announced.
A shift in focus from previous rounds of funding, Call 3 provided a €150 million revolving fund for local authorities to acquire long-term vacant or derelict properties in URDF eligible towns and cities. Acquired properties are then offered by local authorities for private sale at market value to those who in return will commit to bringing the property back into residential use. Proceeds from the sale of these properties will be used to replenish the fund, allowing a local authority to establish a rolling programme to tackle long-term vacancy and dereliction without a requirement for borrowing and the associated financial risk.
In terms of URDF funding provided under Call 3, €142.5 million has been allocated to local authorities to date. As a signal of Government commitment to this initiative local authorities received 20%, (i.e. €28.5 million) of their financial allocations by way of forward funding so that they were well resourced to begin addressing this issue. Currently, there are 1,428 properties on the approved acquisition list under Call 3.
The key objective of URDF Call 3 is to ensure properties are brought out of vacancy and dereliction. The use of Call 3 funding to acquire properties is only one of the ways in which the programme achieves this objective.
Properties approved for inclusion in the programme are not immediately acquired by local authorities. An initial engagement by the local authority with the property owner provides an opportunity for that owner to bring the property back into use in the first instance without the need for further local authority intervention. Some 440 properties are being brought back into use by property owners in this manner and these properties will be monitored by local authorities to ensure the properties are brought back into use.
URDF Call 3 has also been a catalyst for another 93 properties being dealt with under different housing programmes. An additional 212 properties have been identified as not being vacant or derelict upon further review by the local authorities.
These figures, coupled with the 81 properties which have been acquired by the Local Authorities and an additional 63 properties currently in the process of being acquired, show that a total of 889 properties, just over 62% of the properties approved onto the programme, are now actively coming out of vacancy/dereliction.
The total approved expenditure on these properties to date is €9,906,585, (i.e. 6.9% of the overall available funding and 34.7% of the forward funding received by the local authorities). Further assessment and active engagement by local authorities is continuing throughout 2026. Additional properties continue to be examined for suitability, and suitable properties will continue to be added onto the approved acquisition programme. Resources are also made available to local authorities to meet the key objective of Call 3 which is tackling vacancy and dereliction.
