Photo Gallery - Éirígí Activists Highlight The Scandal Of Empty Homes At Christmas
Over the course of the Christmas and New Year period Éirígí activists across Ireland highlighted the fact that vast numbers of houses and apartments remain empty, often for years on end, while hundreds of thousands of our people are denied access to secure, affordable homes.
An Éirígí activist pastes a ‘Why is this home empty this Christmas’ poster to a terrace of four empty houses in Dundrum, South Dublin - homes which are owned by the English company, Hammerson
Large colourful posters asking the question ‘Why is this home empty this Christmas?’ were erected by Éirígí activists on empty homes in various locations including Tuam, Ratoath, Wexford, Lurgan, Galway, Dundrum and Dublin’s North Inner City. Some of these homes are privately owned and some are publicly owned by local authorities.
Derelict home in Dublin’s North Inner City
The 2016 Census identified a staggering 183,312 vacant homes in the Twenty-Six Counties, equating to 9.4% of the total housing stock. Of these homes, 140,120 were houses and 43,192 were apartments. While a significant portion of these homes have been occupied or demolished since 2016, there are still tens of thousands of empty homes, in various states of repair, in the Twenty Six Counties.
Long-term empty home in the heart of Wexford Town, Co Wexford
In the Six Counties, the most recent data, released by the Department of Finance in November 2021, indicated that there are a minimum of 20,068 empty homes in that state. This figure, however, is likely to significantly underestimate the scale of the problem as it is based on homeowners voluntarily self-registering an unoccupied property.
A terrace of derelict council-owned homes in Galway City, Co Galway
The scandal of empty homes is not limited to one housing type or one part of the country. From empty one-off homes in the most rural of locations to empty apartments in city centres, there are empty homes to be found in virtually community in Ireland. While some of these homes are publicly-owned, the vast majority are privately owned by either individuals or corporations.
The scandal of empty homes is an all-Ireland one as highlighted by Éirígí in Lurgan, Co Armagh
The scandal of tens of thousands of empty homes during a chronic housing crisis provides yet more evidence of the deep flaws that lie at the heart of the current approach to housing. The political establishment in both states have elevated ‘property rights’ to a point that they far outweigh human rights. Thus property owners are allowed to leave homes empty for years on end while hundreds of thousands of our citizens are denied access to secure, affordable homes.
Empty homes of all types, including one-off, detached homes, can be found all across Ireland
Ireland’s approach to housing needs to be completely reset. The reign of private landowners, banks, developers, estate agents and landlords must be brought to an end and be replaced by a new approach to housing that places the housing needs of our people ahead of the greed of the profiteers. The right to leave a home empty for years on end can no longer be deemed to more important that the right of a family to a home.
Only the creation of a new system of Universal Public Housing, or UP Housing, can permanently end the housing. Under such a system the state would use fines, compulsory purchase orders and other legal mechanisms to end the scandal of empty homes and to bring suitable empty homes into public ownership. If you’re ready to join the fight for an Irish housing revolution and a New Republic, you can do it here.