A vacant homes tax on properties left empty for more than six months would by levied at 3% of market value under a proposed law by the Green Party.

The new Bill, published yesterday, has proposed a range of measures to tackle vacancy and dereliction including hitting owners of property left unoccupied for more than 180 days with the charge.

Architect and housing policy analyst Mel Reynolds said there was a potential for thousands of homes to be created a year by the measures set out in the Bill, including by making it easier to turn above-shop units into homes.

Properties would be exempt from the tax for a number of reasons, including if the owner is in care, if the property is being renovated, if it is a holiday home or if the occupant has moved temporarily for work reasons.

The vacancy tax, which is modelled on an empty homes tax introduced in Vancouver five years ago, would be collected by Revenue as part of the local property tax and doesn’t apply to the owner’s main private residence.

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Speaking yesterday, Wicklow TD Steven Matthews said there are some 90,000 vacant properties around Ireland at the moment, based on figures from the 2016 census and the latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings report.

"We feel at the moment there are many people who don’t have somewhere to live or are struggling to find somewhere to rent or buy, it’s no (good) to have vacant homes out there."

The proposed legislation is partly made up of a Bill previously brought forward by Fianna Fáil TD, Barry Cowen. The derelict property levy would also be changed into a tax under the proposed legislation, which would also be collected by Revenue.

Mr Matthews is also seeking to have the definition of dereliction to be expanded to include damaged buildings, those that are uninhabitable without remedial work and those that have been disconnected from water or electricity for over two years.

The legislation would also require local authorities to acquire derelict sites if they spend more than two years on the derelict sites register. Mr Matthews said: "Often you’ll see a derelict building where there’s a splash of paint on it or the local Tidy Towns do their best to board it up and draw fake doors and windows on it. It adds no value."

"It may be aesthetically pleasing for a short period of time and take that rough look off it but it does nothing to house people or to bring that stock back into use.

"The application of a tax is a stronger message to someone who owns that building."

Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan said while the measures are welcome, he criticised the party for not acting sooner on vacancy and dereliction.

"It’s more than two years since the General Election and the Greens are in Government. While it’s welcome that they’ve launched this Bill, the Government should have already brought in a tax on vacant homes," Mr O’Callaghan said.

"They haven’t done that but they should bring one in now. The delays in bringing in a tax on vacancy can’t be justified. We urgently need to get vacant homes and vacant buildings back into use. We need to see action from the Government on this."

Mr Matthews said he had spoken to the Housing and Finance Departments about his Bill and they did not object to the measures set out in it, adding that he hoped it would "push" change.

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