Ghosts estates of tigers past

ON census night, Apr 10, 2011, there were just under 290,000 empty houses in the State.

That’s a staggering tally out of a housing stock of under two million. But that figure doesn’t tell you much. It’s only when you drill down into it that a multi-layered picture emerges.

Some regions won’t have any ghost estate or vacancy issues in a couple of years. Others will be dealing with the social and environmental fallout for generations.