Government's vacant housing unit has just one full-time staff member

The vacant homes unit was tasked to work with the CSO, local councils and the Housing Agency to gather data on vacant homes, to identify vacancy hotspots, especially in areas where there is a high demand for homes, and to bring vacant or under-utilised houses back into use. File picture: Larry Cummins

There is just one full-time staff member in the Government’s vacant homes unit (VHU) — down from three since it was set up five years ago.

The revelation has been branded “scandalous” by Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould, who has called on Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to immediately bolster the unit with more staff.

“Making announcements, recycling failed ideas and looking for photo opportunities won’t solve this housing crisis,” Mr Gould said.

Real action will. That the minister has failed completely to get any grip on vacancy in this State can be seen right across towns and cities.

“The minister now needs to clarify the role of the Vacant Homes Unit in his department, the size he intends the team to be and why he has allowed this unit to shrink during his term.” 

The VHU was established by former housing minister Eoghan Murphy in 2017 to co-ordinate actions at central and local government level in response to the housing crisis.

The unit was tasked to work with the CSO, local councils and the Housing Agency to gather data on vacant homes, to identify vacancy hotspots, especially in areas where there is a high demand for homes, and to bring vacant or under-utilised houses back into use.

In response to a parliamentary question from Mr Gould, it has emerged the VHU had three full-time staff members in 2018, but that its full-time staffing levels dropped to two in 2019 and 2020, and fell again to just one full-time staff member in 2021.

The minister said due to staff changes and other priorities within the planning area, the role of the VHU changed over the years and its role was reviewed last year in the context of the multi-billion Housing for All strategy.

“The strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of measures to achieve its policy objectives together with a financial commitment of in excess of €4bn per annum," the minister said.

"In light of these priorities, my department has decided that work on this pathway merits a separate dedicated principal officer-led unit.

“As part of this process the unit is moving from the planning division to one of the housing divisions, and the staffing is being increased.

"The unit will play a key part in delivering on the Government commitments under Housing for All."

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He said the unit was currently working on a suite of measures including the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund, on funding support for the work of the vacant homes office in each of the country's local authorities, including ensuring that vacant homes officers are full-time officers, and on a new local authority-led programme to help councils buy or compulsorily purchase 2,500 vacant homes in their areas which can then be sold on the open market to ensure their use as homes.

The response stressed that the one staff member currently assigned to the unit is at assistant principal officer grade and that a principal officer is “involved part-time in this area”.

The response also said there are plans to appoint a dedicated full-time principal officer and assign "further staff", but no details were provided.

But Mr Gould said the unit’s historic staffing figures prove it was an “underutilised resource that never reached its full potential”.

“It is deeply frustrating for those of us looking to help ordinary people trapped in the housing crisis,” he said.