Property report claims 17% of houses empty

A PROPERTY report claims that up to 345,000 or 17% of all houses in Ireland is empty and that any intervention in the slumped sector, like NAMA, could delay rather help recovery in the property market.

The University College Dublin (UCD) research reveals a striking difference in empty houses in regions, with vacancy levels in the greater Dublin area at 11.5% compared with 20% in the rest of the State.

Nationally, up to 17.43% of housing is empty, says the report.