The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Simon Coveney has announced the allocation of funding of over €24 million for the return of over 1,400 vacant local authority properties to productive use this year.
 
The move is a continuation of the Government’s commitment under the Social Housing Strategy to deliver 47,000 housing units by 2021 at a cost of €5.35 billion.
 
Since its introduction in 2014, the Department’s Vacant Properties (Voids) Programme has provided approximately €85million of funding which has result in over 7,200 properties being return to productive use.

A key priority of this scheme is to rehouse homeless families to the fullest extent possible in homes that have been restored to an energy efficient condition.
 
Speaking on Friday, Minister Coveney said, "This announcement today will bring another 1,400 housing units back into use in a timely manner for homeless households and families on housing waiting lists." 

He added, "Feedback from local authorities in respect of this programme is very positive. Since the introduction of the programme in 2014 valuable assistance has been provided to local authorities in dealing with vacant units and significant progress has been made in tackling the backlog. These measures will also greatly assist local authorities in achieving quick turnaround and re-letting times for such units."

Source: www.businessworld.ie