Empty Homes Unit is being set up.
Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, unveiled on Monday morning, a plan to progress the delivery of vacant homes back into use.
A project called the Empty Homes Unit is being set up within the department of Housing and it hopes to utilise Ireland’s 189,000 empty homes around the country.
The plans come under a new vacant-homes strategy which will be unveiled in September and Murphy announced several key actions to help bring vacant houses into use.
According to the Irish Examiner, these include:
The aforementioned empty-homes unit where the central Government will support local authorities.
Examination of Census Data by vacant-homes officers to find ‘vacant hot-spots’ and what areas can be used.
A website to log vacant homes. Users can alert authorities on vacanthomes.ie;
Maintenance and upgrading of properties and faster turnaround of vacant social housing stock and also quicker identification of new tenants.
The quick enactment of exemptions to allow vacant commercial units and over-the-shop premises to be used as residences without planning permission;
Adjustment of terms in the Fair Deal nursing home scheme to encourage greater use of vacant properties for those in nursing homes.
Latest figures from the Department of Housing show just less than 8,000 people – including nearly 3,000 children – were homeless in June.
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