Shocking figures show over 50% of council homes will remain boarded up in 2025 – Thomas Gould TD
1 May 2025
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Urban Regeneration & Renewal, Planning, Public Realm & Local Government, Thomas Gould, has today slammed the government for failing to properly resource local authorities to bring empty social homes back into use quickly and efficiently.
His comments come as figures released to him in response to a Parliamentary Question show that just 1900 of the more than 4000 empty social homes found by NOAC will be returned to use in 2025.
Teachta Gould said:
“Does this government not realise that we are in the middle of a Housing Crisis? Boarding up social homes when children are growing up in hotels is a sin.
“Local authorities are only given €11,000 per house. For many homes, this is an acceptable figure and allows the properties to be brought back to use. For others, this is simply not enough because of years without planned maintenance and these homes are instead boarded up and left to fall into further disrepair.
“These empty homes cause anti-social behaviour, dumping and increase stigma in the area. In every terrace or estate where there is an empty home, there are young families crammed into box rooms who would give everything for a home of their own in their community.
“Instead, the government is preventing local authorities from being ambitious. They are stopping them from returning these homes to use and they are leaving these homes to rot instead.
“The Voids Return scheme needs an overhaul. Currently, it only opens once a year and many local authorities do not have the funds to return homes to use without it. This means that homes that are ready to live in are instead boarded up until the scheme opens again. On what planet does that make sense?
“There is no sense of urgency from the government. Funding should be released to ensure that local authorities have the opportunity to return every single home to use. We do not need a housing czar – we need a Minister who funds local authorities, who listens to local authorities and who supports them to do their job.”
