Local authority spent €293k securing vacant social homes

In 2025, the SDCC spent a total of €293,000 on securing vacant social homes to protect properties from unauthorised access, vandalism, or further deterioration.

This work, which cost 4.5 per cent of the council’s overall re-let budget costs, includes the boarding up of properties to prevent trespassing or unwanted anti-social behaviour while re-let works are underway.

The council described this work as part of the proactive management of vacant stock and should be viewed in the context of a very low vacancy rate across the housing stock and strong overall re-let performance.

Last year, 186 properties were successfully re-tenanted and, by year end, only 61 properties remained vacant, representing a vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent across the council’s housing stock.

The average turnaround time from surrender of properties to allocation in 2025 was 22.19 weeks, a timeline that the council is focused on reducing this year through close co-ordination between maintenance and allocations teams, earlier advertising of homes through CBL and streamlined re-let standards.

The council described the boarding up and securing of properties as an important temporary protective measure to prevent avoidable damage and help ensure homes can be returned to productive use as quickly as possible.

In January 2026, 301 properties were investigated in the South Dublin area and confirmed as vacant, with 62 of these located in the Lucan/Palmerstown/North Clondalkin area.

A total of 23 properties were listed on the Derelict Sites Register in the same month, which includes 2 within Lucan, Palmerstown and North Clondalkin.

Plans have been made by the SDCC to address vacancy and dereliction in the County, including the organisation of a bi-weekly meeting between the Vacant Homes section and the Derelict Sites team to review properties that have been reported as vacant or derelict.

Following these meetings, inspection of the property and engagement with the property owner will be carried out by the council to prevent further deterioration.

To date, 124 Vacant Property Refurbishment Grants have been processed for payment, totalling €6.2 million.

The aim of this grant in particular, is to bring more vacant and derelict properties into use as homes which in turn, will take them off the register and help to enhance the overall appearance of the area.

The grant can reach up to €50,000 and this year a total of 27 grant applications have been received by the council, which have amounted to over €1.3 million.

Last year the council awarded a total of 60 grants to the amount of €2.9 million.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme