A total of 44,905 residential and commercial properties in the west, north-west, and border areas are lying vacant, according to a new report which has led to calls for “positive discimination” in funding and supports for the region.
The findings are contained in the Regional Vacancy and Dereliction Analysis report by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. The report also found that 72 per cent of the towns and villages in the west, north-west, and border recorded an above average residential vacancy rate, while 59 per cent in the same areas registered an above average commercial vacancy rate.
Incentives
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The report argued that the vacancy figure of 44,905 vacant residential and commercial properties is higher than the State’s estimated annual housing requirement of 33,000 homes.
The report said local authorities in the region must be provided with the resources to employ a team of full-time vacant and derelict officers, to allow each local authority identify, analyse, and tackle the level of vacancy and dereliction within its administrative area.
It also urged the Department of Housing to commission a study examining if utilising tax relief, subsidies, rebates, low-cost loans, or other incentives, could encourage individuals to redevelop vacant and derelict properties in towns and villages.
Regeneration
This week also saw the publication of the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Northern and Western Region 2020-2032, which identifies the regeneration of towns and villages in the region as a major priority action.
The purpose of the report is to inform the forthcoming Town Centre First policy, and it says the future role of towns and villages needs to be re-imagined, addressing economic, physical, and social decline in order to make them places people want to live, work, and spend time in.
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Independent Galway West TD, Sean Canney [pictured above], welcomed both reports, and said the RVDA report in particular, will assist the Department of Housing to address vacancy and dereliction in the region, and with “targeted support to a housing market under distress”.
Dep Canney said the high level of vacant properties shows that funding resources for the forthcoming Town Centre First policy should “positively discriminate” towards the west, north-west, and border area, leading to a “rejuvenation” of towns and villages in the region.
