Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2020
87. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to put in place incentives to return to use, unused buildings and shops in towns and villages; his further plans to deal with dereliction in urban areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28994/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraA number of actions have been taken in recent years, to address vacancy and dereliction in our towns and cities. A core principle of the Project Ireland 2040 and the National Planning Framework (NPF), published in 2018, is the promotion of compact urban growth and the re-use of brownfield sites.
The NPF includes specific objectives to regenerate cities, towns and villages of all types and scale, and in particular to reverse the stagnation or decline of many smaller urban centres, including measure to reduce vacancy, re-use existing buildings and promote infill and area or site-based regeneration.
The important roles of our towns and villages, is reflected in the Programme for Government with the proposed development of a “Town Centre First” policy. Similarly, the Programme for Government commits to the development of the cities of Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway as viable alternatives to Dublin using Project Ireland 2040, to help regional towns prosper. The Programme for Government notes the importance of balanced regional development in reducing environmental pressures and keeping our smaller urban centres vibrant.
Local authorities have already been provided with a number of powers and measures to deal with the issue of vacancy and dereliction of in our urban centres. There also exists a framework of overarching policy and capital funding which provides support to development, including urban regeneration.
From a legislative perspective, this includes,
- the Derelict Sites Act 1990, which imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site;
- the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2018, which came into operation on 8 February 2018, and provides for an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission in respect of the change of use of certain vacant commercial premises, including vacant areas above ground floor premises, to residential use;
- the vacant site levy provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, under which planning authorities were empowered to apply a vacant site levy of 3% of the market valuation of relevant properties which were listed on local authority vacant site registers in 2018, which relevant owners were liable to pay in January 2019. The rate of the levy increased to 7% for sites listed on local authority vacant sites register from 2019 onwards which site owners became liable to pay in January 2020; and
- local authorities also have compulsory purchase order powers which can be used in certain circumstances to address these issues.
From a funding perspective, significant resourcing is being provided to enhance the urban environment of our cities, towns and villages through the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund established under Project Ireland 2040. The URDF, which is the fund operated by my Department, was launched in 2018 and has an overall provision of €2 billion to 2027. The URDF was established to support applicant-led projects that will contribute to regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the NPF and the NDP. This will be done by supporting proposals that contribute to the re-development of key brownfield areas, including areas containing derelict sites and buildings, both by enabling infrastructure and new master-planned development proposals. 88 projects across the breadth of the country have been approved for URDF support thus far. A second call for proposals was launched in January of this year. The closing date for applications was 29 May 2020 and these applications are now being assessed.
Under the National Vacant Home Reuse Strategy 2018-21 my Department has, since 2018, provided financial assistance to each local authority to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office. Each such office is tasked to support, implement and further develop, update, monitor and review the progress of local authorities’ Vacant Homes Action Plans and actions to address vacant private housing. In addition, two schemes, the Repair and Lease and the Buy and Renew Schemes, were introduced to assist in bringing vacant stock back into use.
