About 3.3 per cent of homes across the country lay empty in the final quarter of 2023, with the highest vacancy rates along the west coast, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.
The data, which is based on electricity consumption in homes, shows there were 72,254 homes in Ireland which consumed very low levels of electricity over the 12-month period to the end of 2023, and are thereby classified as having been vacant.
This gave an estimated national vacancy rate of 3.3 per cent, which was down from 3.6 per cent in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Campaigners have long cited the issue of vacant homes across the State as a key policy issue in efforts to resolve the housing crisis.
RM Block
The numbers of vacant homes along urban and rural lines were largely even, but the rate in rural areas (5.7 per cent) was more than twice that of urban areas (2.3 per cent) owing to their being less properties in those parts of the country.
The data, which relies on ESB designations, shows there were 498 more homes that moved out of vacancy than became vacant in the period.
The local authorities with the highest vacancy rates were Leitrim (8.5 per cent), Roscommon (6.5 per cent), and Mayo (6.4 per cent), while the lowest rates were in South Dublin (1 per cent), Fingal, and Kildare (both 1.4 per cent).
Breaking the data down by area, the highest vacancy rate was found in Adare-Rathkeale in Limerick at 10.4 per cent, while the lowest was Palmerstown-Fonthill in Dublin at 0.8 per cent.
Taking the number of vacant homes rather than the rate, the worst affected spots by local authority were Cork County (6,599), Donegal (5,570), and Dublin city (5,355), while the least affected areas were Laois (1,020), Carlow (710), and Galway City (619).
Breaking it down by area, Glenties in Donegal had the highest number of vacant homes at 1,636, followed by Adare-Rathkeale in Limerick (1,395), and Kenmare in Kerry (1,196).
The numbers of vacant homes were generally lower in Dublin, Kildare, and surrounding areas and in the other cities. The areas with lowest were Leixlip in Kildare (81), Ongar in Dublin (103), and Palmerstown-Fonthill (113) in Dublin.
The largest decreases in vacant home numbers over the year were in Cavan (421), Donegal (417) and Fingal (298). Four local authorities – Wicklow, Cork City, Wexford, and Carlow – saw increases in vacant home numbers in this period.
Detached houses were the most common type of vacant home, making up 35 per cent. The same number had a building energy rating of F or G – the two least energy efficient ratings – and more than a fifth had been constructed since 2001.
The most popular forms of heating were heating oil (40 per cent), mains gas (26 per cent), and electricity (21 per cent). The data also shows less than 3 per cent of vacant homes had solar energy as a renewable energy source.
