The Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has published its report on urban regeneration with 39 recommendations for incentives and enforcement measures, policy issues and resources aimed at regenerated urban centres and bringing derelict and vacant properties back into use.

The report is the result of four days of hearings between December and March with relevant stakeholders, with members of the committee having examined present schemes such as Repair and Lease, and Buy and Renew.

The committee also explored areas such as dereliction and vacancy, data, planning and spatial analysis, active travel and transport-oriented development, and current policy and funding measures for the report.

Key recommendations include the creation of a single national platform to integrate, compile and effectively organise existing and future data on vacancy and dereliction into a publicly accessible data set.

The report also calls for a online derelict sites register for every local authority; that local authorities should be adequately resourced with experience, programming and data science skills through recruitment, upskilling and retention of staff.

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It recommends that the Department of Housing sanction public bodies that fail to register property assets in a timely manner, and that it gives local authorities ambitious targets for the Repair and Lease and Buy and Renew schemes for social and affordable rental and purchase.

The department should also agree with local authorities that a percentage of new social and affordable housing output should come from vacant and derelict properties; consider expanding the Repair and Lease Scheme to incorporate the cost/rental model; and review the maximum loan amount available under Repair and Lease in light of inflation.

Other recommendations include:

• The Derelict Sites Levy be changed to a Derelict Sites Tax which is to be collected by Revenue based on registers created by Local Authorities. Monies collected to be returned to Local Authorities for site acquisitions and refurbishment of those sites;
• Consider increasing the proposed Residential Zoned Land Tax in excess of 3%. The introduction of a Vacant Homes Tax with reasonable exemptions should also be considered.
• The definition of derelict be expanded to include buildings that are damaged, neglected, boarded up and/or are uninhabitable, in addition to the visual element currently provided for in the definition; 
• The Department engage with the Department of Transport and local authorities to implement the Delivery Roadmap contained in the Five Cities Demand Management Study;
• The inclusion of transport-oriented development into any future area development guidelines for local authorities should be prioritised and mandated. 

"The blight of derelict and vacant properties is a complex issue to which there is no simple or quick solution," said Steven Matthews, Green Party TD for Wicklow and Cathaoirleach of the committee.

"The committee believes that to achieve effective urban regeneration a careful balance must be struck between disincentives such as taxation measures and supports for people who want to bring derelict or vacant properties back into use. 

“These buildings can be used as social or affordable housing which can help bring urban living back into the heart of our cities, towns and villages. Critical to how we develop and manage this balance is the creation and management of a detailed national database of derelict and vacant properties which is available to local authorities and the wider public.”

Matthews added that the committee will monitor the progress being made on the implementation of the report's recommendations and related policy initiatives and that members would like to see the issues raised in the document debated in the Dáil and Seanad.

Photo: Steven Matthews. (Pic: Oireachtas/Getty Images)