Over 1,200 vacant and derelict properties have been granted approval under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) Call 3.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien TD has updated Cabinet on the third call.

The third round of URDF was announced in January last year and specifically targeted at addressing long term vacancy and dereliction across cities and towns and at the provision of residential accommodation.

The update provided by Minister O'Brien shows that 1,224 vacant and derelict properties in URDF areas have been identified and approved under the scheme and that the estimated residential yield from these properties is 5,406 homes.

-- Advertisement --

The fund is available to all Local Authorities to cover the purchase price of properties (residential and commercial) and any minor works required to make the property more suitable for sale e.g. improving access, tidying up, opening up to facilitate inspections etc.

Acquired properties are then offered for private sale to those who in return will commit to bringing the property back into residential use. Purchasers of these properties are also able to defray the costs of returning them to use by accessing the Vacant and Derelict Property Refurbishment Grant, the SEAI energy efficiency grants or the Repair and Leasing Scheme subject to eligibility.

To date €142.5M has been allocated across all 31 Local Authorities under Call 3.

Minister O'Brien said: "I’m delighted to update Cabinet on the success of the third round of funding under the URDF. The response from Local Authorities has been huge with more than 1,200 properties in town centre locations identified and approved funding which amounts to just over €142M. This Government have placed a huge emphasis on the regeneration and rejuvenation of towns all across the country and as I travel around Ireland it’s heartening to see the impact of the various initiatives which are underway to transform towns and cities."