Housing

Dedicated government taskforce needed to tackle vacant properties, cross-party committee says

Report from housing committee also calls for rate of soon-to-be-introduced vacant sites tax should be increased due to inflation

Campaigners, activists and politicians have in recent years dedicated significant time to debating the level of actual vacancy across Ireland. Picture: Getty

The government should set up a dedicated taskforce to tackle vacancy and dereliction, and a tax aimed at boosting the country’s supply of housing should be set higher than the planned rate of 3 per cent, according to an unpublished cross-party report.

The Oireachtas housing committee will today publish a report on urban regeneration, which contains a number of criticisms of the government’s handling of vacant properties as well as recommendations for the upcoming vacant ...