Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2023
116. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide details of the new €150 million URDF vacancy fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11719/23]
View answerOn 30 January, I announced details regarding a third round of funding under the URDF programme. Supporting key objectives of Housing for All, Town Centre First and the Vacant Homes Action Plan, this round of URDF support has been specifically designed to addresses long term vacancy and dereliction across URDF eligible cities and town.
A revolving fund of up to €150m of URDF support will be made available for local authorities to acquire long term vacant or derelict properties (residential and/or commercial) and if necessary carry out works required to de-risk or improve the properties to make them more attractive for re-use or sale. The intention is that the fund would be replenished from the proceeds received from the end use/user thereby allowing the local authority to put in place a rolling programme to tackle long term vacancy and dereliction without recourse to borrowing and the associated financial risk for local authorities.
My Department is currently engaging with the local authority sector on finalising individual allocations, project criteria and reporting arrangements, the details of which will be announced in due course. While the third round of funding is specifically tailored to help deliver specific objectives of Housing for All, Town Centre First and the Vacant Homes Action Plan, a fourth round of funding support will be made available later in 2023. This further Call for proposals will revert to the heretofore wider scope of URDF projects, such as improved public realm and community development projects, which reflect the complex investment proposals required to transform key areas of our cities and towns. It will also provide an opportunity for a number of the ‘pipeline’ projects which have or will emerge from master planning exercises carried out under Calls 1 and 2 to be considered for funding. Support for a number of key settlements that have not yet received the level of funding required to support the growth proposed for them in the National Planning Framework and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies, will also be considered. My Department will engage further with the local government sector on the nature and timing of a future Call after the third round of funding support has been finalised.
