Nearly 5,000 vacant homes across Dublin says Labour

Labour has launched a new campaign aimed at tackling derelict and vacant properties across Ireland.

The party says these vacant homes are “galling” in the context of the homeless crisis which has reached record levels.

“It’s obvious to anyone who walks through the city – apartment blocks lie empty with the wrapping still on mattresses, boarded up houses which could become homes for those who so desperately need it,” said Labour leader Ivana Bacik.

“It’s certainly not unique to the Capital either –  vacancy and dereliction is a national scandal.”

“While official figures understate the true scale of the problem, we know that nearly 200,000 homes lie vacant or derelict at any one time here in Ireland. A scandalous 37,000 homes have lain vacant since 2016.”

“Imagine if Government actually put some focus into bringing these properties back onto the market as homes?”

“As in many aspects of this Government’s record on housing, the approach to vacancy and dereliction has been abysmal. It has been marked by short-termism and not delivery.”

Bacik has asserted in recent months that the Government’s market-led approach to housing is a root cause of the problem, and stronger State intervention was needed.

“Land is a finite resource. Properties which are left vacant for a prolonged period should be compulsorily purchased and local authorities should be resourced to do so,” she claimed.

“The State should leverage the institutional knowledge it has through the likes of An Post and auctioneers to ensure that the vacant and derelict sites registers are up to date. That’s what Labour is trying to do – we are compiling a national database of vacant and derelict sites nationwide.”

Large corporations using property as speculative investments has become a major issue in the likes of Canada, Australia and European nations like Germany and Portugal, but Bacik conceded “simple taxation may not be enough to prevent them from keeping property vacant.”

“Sites cannot be allowed to stay empty, particularly when their owners allow that state of affairs to continue so that they can speculate on the value of their property.”

Bacik took aim at Fianna Fáil and their management of the Department of Housing, claiming they are “ignoring the growing systemic problem of homelessness.”

“If there’s been a consistent theme as to how Fianna Fáil have managed the Housing Department in recent years it’s this: focusing on sorting out the developers; concerning themselves with tax breaks for landlords and actively ignoring the huge numbers of empty homes nationwide.”

“We are in the grips of the worst housing crisis in living memory. Where is the urgency to tackle this and to bring these vacant and derelict sites back into use for people and families?”

Bacik said that the decision to lift the eviction ban has compounded the homeless crisis, and a motion by People Before Profit that would reinstate the ban on no-fault evictions was defeated in the Dáil last week.

“No politician should have to be reminded about the issue of homelessness when we see the numbers of persons huddling in porches and alleys in the surrounds of Leinster House,” she said. 

“There needs to be a step-change in housing provision. Our population is growing but housing supply does not even meet current needs. Tackling vacancy and dereliction is key to making sure that everyone has a home.”

“Only ideology – not the economy – is holding us back,” she stated.