Vacant to Vibrant Building Alliance Calls for Greater Investment in Regeneration and Adaptive Reuse to Deliver Homes and Revitalise Communities

The Vacant to Vibrant Building Alliance (VVBA) is calling on Government to prioritise ambitious regeneration and adaptive reuse measures in Budget 2027 to help revitalise city, town and village centres, and housing delivery.

The VVBA is a cross-sectoral forum bringing together housing and built environment experts and stakeholders to develop practical, evidence-based recommendations to unlock housing supply by supporting the reuse of vacant, derelict and underused buildings.

VVBA has developed a package of coordinated policy recommendations designed to deliver at large-scale reuse of vacant and derelict properties while strengthening the vitality of communities throughout the country.

Key Recommendations

• Expand and Improve Support for Adaptive Reuse

VVBA is calling for an expansion of the Croí Cónaithe initiatives to better support adaptive reuse projects. In particular, it recommends removing  the condition  in the Vacant Above the Shop Grant which requires ground-floor commercial units to remain in commercial use and it recommends extending the grant eligibility to SMEs.

• Introduce Targeted Timebound Tax Incentives

The VVBA recommends the introduction of targeted timebound tax measures to encourage investment in bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into productive use, including a temporary Capital Gains exemption  to incentivise the sale of vacant buildings.

• Establish Regional Adaptive Reuse Directors

VVBA, recognising the critical role played by local authorities, is also recommending the establishment of five Regional Adaptive Reuse Directors located in 5 based local authorities and reporting to the Vacant Homes Unit in the Department of Housing.  

These dedicated regional roles would support local authorities to establish adaptive reuse programmes bringing together multidisciplinary teams with specialist expertise in areas such as design, conservation, fire safety, viability assessment and regulation. They would also facilitate knowledge sharing, support joint funding applications, and help scale up adaptive reuse projects across multiple local authority areas.

Speaking about the recommendations, Philip Lee, Chair of the Vacant to Vibrant Building Alliance, said:

“Ireland’s housing deficit is growing, and new construction alone cannot not bridge the gap. We need a coordinated package of measures to unlock the enormous potential of the vacant, derelict and underutilised buildings that already exist in our cities, towns and villages. Recent Government decisions to continue, expand and enhance vacant property refurbishment grants are welcome and demonstrate growing recognition of the role adaptive reuse can play in addressing the housing crisis. However, if we are serious about delivering housing at scale, we must go further, immediately. Time is not on our side.

The recommendations put forward by VVBA will unlock thousands of additional homes in locations already served by infrastructure and public services, while also breathing new life into communities across the country. By investing in adaptive reuse, we can deliver homes more quickly, revitalise town and city centres”.

Pat Barry, CEO of the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC), added:

“The housing crisis and climate change are two of the most pressing challenges facing Ireland. Adaptive reuse offers a unique opportunity to address both. Bringing vacant and underutilised buildings back into use through high-quality renovation will deliver much-needed homes while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of development.

Reusing existing buildings results in far lower embodied carbon emissions, with the carbon footprint of a deep residential retrofit estimated at around a quarter that of a comparable new build. By prioritising homes in existing town and city centres, we can also make better use of infrastructure already in place and reduce the need for car-dependent development.”

The VVBA believes that investing in regeneration and adaptive reuse represents one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to increase housing supply while creating healthier, more sustainable and more vibrant communities across Ireland.