Market fears rise as one in six houses lie empty
Detailed results from the 2006 census on housing show 266,000 units — or about 15% of the total housing stock — were classified as vacant.
It means nearly a sixth of 1.46 million homes in the Republic are lying empty.
The results reveal that the number of unoccupied homes has increased by 123,000 since the previous census in 2002 when the vacancy rate was less than 10%.
However, only 50,000 out of 266,000 unoccupied dwellings are formally classified as holiday homes, leaving 175,000 houses and 42,000 apartments across the country empty.
The highest vacancy rate is in Co Leitrim, where almost 30% of all homes were unoccupied.
Despite strong demand for rental accommodation in Dublin, almost 12% of all dwellings in the city were vacant.
Evidence of the building boom over the past few years was also confirmed by the figures which were published by the Central Statistics Office. They highlight how 249,000 occupied private dwellings were built between 2001 and 2006 — equivalent to over 17% of all housing.
But Department of Environment figures on housing show that over 430,000 units were completed during the same period. Such data suggests the phenomenon of a large number of unoccupied homes has only emerged in recent years due to intense construction activity which saw a record number of more than 93,000 housing units completed last year.
Marie Hunt, director of research with leading estate agency, CB Richard Ellis, expressed surprise at the high rate of unoccupied dwellings and questioned the accuracy of the classification system used for vacancy by the CSO.
“There’s no evidence to suggest that there are so many investors sitting on properties which they are unable to let,” said Ms Hunt.
She claimed the information about the vacancy rates which were first highlighted in preliminary figures issued by the CSO last year had no impact on house prices.
“A large supply of housing, interest rate increases and political interference have been more important factors, while the housing market is hugely governed by sentiment at the moment,” said Ms Hunt.
She added: “It’s still too early to call how house prices will go. However, September and October will be a key period as developers, who are ready to launch new schemes, will be watching to see if buyers are coming back into the market.”
A CSO spokesperson said they were satisfied with the accuracy of the figures which distinguished between holiday homes and vacant dwellings.
The CSO figures also highlight how apartments and flats now account for over 10% of all homes — up from 8.6% in 2002. One in three of all housing units in Dublin are apartments or bed-sits.
Owner-occupancy is still the most common type of occupancy with almost 1.1 million such dwellings — up more than 100,000 units since the previous census, accounting for almost 75% of all homes.
Almost 196,000 housing units, or 13.4% of all homes are used as rental accommodation. Average weekly rents for furnished accommodation range from nearly €275 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown to less than €115 in Donegal and Leitrim.
Few immigrants buying property
THE findings also show that few immigrants are buying property in Ireland, adding to fears about the housing market in the event of a downturn in the economy.
* More than half of all 145,000 private rented accommodation units have tenants who were born outside Ireland.
* Just under 5% of all Poles living in Ireland have bought their own property, compared to 80% of Irish nationals who live in their own home.
* One in five homes have broadband access, although there are large regional differences across the State.
* More than 136,000 homes have no central heating, while more than 2,900 have no running water and 4,200 have no sewerage facilities.
* About 7,200 households reside in caravans, mobile homes or other temporary structures.
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