There were more than 70,000 dwellings presumed vacant in Ireland at the end of 2024.
That’s according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO)’s Residential Vacancy Based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2024 report.
The release identifies dwellings which were classified as vacant based on low levels of electricity consumption of around 2kWh per day, or 180kWh per quarter, over a period of at least four consecutive quarters. For context, 2kWh consumption is enough to power a medium-sized fridge for a day. This methodology provides insight into where vacant dwellings are and how vacancy rates have changed over time.
According to the findings, there were 70,149 dwellings in Ireland which consumed very low levels of electricity over the 12-month period to the end of Q4 2024. This gave an estimated national vacancy rate of 3.2% based on low electricity consumption.
Using low levels of metered electricity consumption as a measure for vacancy, the number of vacant dwellings fell from 72,254 (3.3%) in Q4 2023 to 70,149 (3.2%) in Q4 2024 with over 2,100 more dwellings moving out of vacancy than becoming vacant.
In Q4 2024, there were 35,493 vacant dwellings in rural areas compared with 34,656 in urban areas. This resulted in a rural vacancy rate of 5.4% and an urban vacancy rate of 2.2%. Vacancy rates were lower in Dublin, Kildare, and the surrounding areas and in the other cities: Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The Local Authority with the highest vacancy rate was Leitrim at 7.8%, while the Local Authority with the lowest vacancy rate was South Dublin at 0.9%. The highest numbers of vacant dwellings at a Local Authority level were in Cork County (6,632), Dublin City (5,670), and Donegal (5,603), with the lowest numbers in Carlow (653), Galway City (658), and Laois (963).
The Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest vacancy rate was Adare-Rathkeale in Limerick at 9.9%, while the LEA with the lowest vacancy rate was Palmerstown-Fonthill in Dublin at 0.7%. Glenties in Donegal was the LEA with the highest number of vacant dwellings in Q4 2024 (1,615), while the lowest was in Leixlip in Kildare (71).
At an Electoral Division (ED) level there was a wide range of vacancy rates in Q4 2024. The highest vacancy rate in Q4 2024 was in An Ghrafaidh in Donegal at 21.3% with large areas of low vacancy around Dublin, Kildare, and Meath and the other cities: Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
Among vacant dwellings that could be matched to a Building Energy Rating (BER) assessment in Q4 2024, detached houses were the most common dwelling type, making up 37% of vacant dwellings. Around a third (33%) of dwellings which were vacant in Q4 2024 had a BER rating of F or G and less than a fifth (18%) were constructed since 2001. The most popular forms of heating were heating oil (41%), mains gas (25%), and electricity (22%). It was also found that around 4% of vacant dwellings had Solar Energy as a renewable energy source in Q4 2024.
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