40 vacant social housing units were brought back into use by Kerry County Council last year.
That’s according to figures provided by the Department of Housing, which gave updates on its Voids Programme for the last nine years.
Since 2014, Kerry County Council has returned over 700 vacant social housing units, drawing down funding of over €8 million to do so.
The Voids Programme supports local authorities in preparing vacant homes for re-letting, by using Exchequer funding to supplement councils’ own funding.
In Kerry, the number of vacant social housing units brought back into use each year has fluctuated between 127 in 2015, and 40 last year.
The Department of Housing says an intense two-year period of tackling long-term social housing vacancy and legacy vacancy took place over 2020 and 2021.
During these two years, 138 vacant social housing units were brought back into use in Kerry, with almost €1.5 million drawn down by the council in 2020 alone for this purpose.
Kerry County Council returned 40 vacant social units last year, using €600,000 of Exchequer funding.
The Department says the reduction in last year’s returns, reflects the intense two-year programme during 2020 and 2021.
In total, Kerry County Council has used over €8 million of Exchequer funding, in addition to its own funding, to return 723 vacant social homes into use since 2014.
At the most recent Tralee Municipal District meeting, councillors were told there are 58 vacant social houses in the Tralee area alone.
