Housing Vacancy Repair & Relief Initiative
The basis of the scheme is that repair and improvement works to suitable vacant properties are funded to bring them up to the standard for rented accommodation and the cost of the works is then deducted from lease payments over an agreed lease term.
A key component of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is a new scheme, the Vacant Housing Repair and Leasing Initiative, which targets the delivery of social housing and also ensures that existing housing stock is used to the maximum degree possible.
Waterford City and County Council have piloted and progressed the initiative with Department of Housing Planning Community and Local Government support. CSO Census data and local studies have indicated that there are significant numbers of vacant dwellings in Waterford City & County. The Vacant Housing Repair and Leasing Initiative (also known as Repair and Leasing Initiative or RLI) is intended to target these properties as a possible source of social housing and also provides the property owner with an income stream that may be otherwise unavailable.
