Lowest level of vacant social houses in a decade - report

The number of vacant social housing units fell to its lowest level in a decade last year, but the number of social housing units being acquired by local authorities decreased by nearly a fifth when compared to 2024.

The new figures are contained in the Local Authority Performance Indicator Report published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission.

Local authorities owned 158,772 social housing units by the end of last year and, according to today's report, housing remains a key concern.

The number of vacant social housing units fell to its lowest level since 2015 last year. The report found that 3,866 social housing units were vacant at the end of 2025, down from 4,251 in 2024.

The overall vacancy rate for directly provided local authority housing stock was 2.44% in 2025, down from 2.75% in 2024.

Monaghan, had the lowest vacancy rate in the country at 0.52%, while Kilkenny recorded the highest, 5.07%.

However, the number of units added to the overall social housing stock fell by 18.78% compared with 2024. 4,324 social housing units were added to local authority social housing stock in 2025, to bring the total number owned by local authorities to 158,772. 5,324 had been added in 2024.

Average re-letting times remained above 32 weeks nationally in 2025, with the report saying there was considerable variation across local authorities. Monaghan recorded the shortest average re-letting time at 11.61 weeks, followed by Laois (16.07 weeks) and Sligo (20.71 weeks) while at the other end of the scale were Kerry (66.12 weeks) and Limerick City and County (56.50 weeks).

A total of 2,671 local authority homes were retrofitted across Ireland in 2025, up slightly from 2024, when 2,634 were retrofitted. Dublin City recorded the highest number of retrofits for the third consecutive year, with 327 homes upgraded. It was followed by Cork County (208) and Donegal (200).

The lowest number of retrofitted houses was Mayo County Council (11), followed by Westmeath (14), and Leitrim (16). The report notes that the current pace of retrofit activity is unlikely to meet the national target of retrofitting 36,500 local authority properties to a B2 Building Energy Rating (BER) or cost-optimal equivalent by 2030.

Over €300 million was spent on housing maintenance in 2025, an increase of 6.57% on the previous year.

The number of rented dwellings inspected rose to 64,120 in 2025 from 62,085 in 2024. Nine local authorities achieved or exceeded the 25% annual inspection rate, but 15 local authorities did not reach the threshold.

There were 15,006 new buildings notified to local authorities in 2025, a significant decrease of 34,785 on the 2024 figure of 49,791. The report said the reduction "is largely attributable to the conclusion of the development waiver programme, which closed in 2024 and had previously contributed to elevated activity levels under this indicator."

The report found that commercial rates and home loan collection rates have improved significantly over the past decade, while rent collection performance has remained stable. However, "considerable variations in collection performance between local authorities persist."

Commenting on the report's findings, Michael McCarthy, Chair of NOAC, said: "Local authorities play a crucial role in supporting communities around Ireland, and their commitment is evident in this year’s report.

"We particularly welcome the continued reduction in local authority housing vacancies and the strong financial performance achieved by many authorities, including improvements in commercial rates collection and reductions in accumulated revenue deficits.

"These achievements reflect the focused efforts of local authorities to improve service delivery and strengthen financial resilience."

14% increase in households availing of three-bin waste collection

Library usage increased significantly in 2025, with 22.8 million items issued to library members - up 30.68% on 2024. It found that almost 83% of motor tax transactions are now conducted online, compared to around 56% in 2015.

Food waste segregation also increased significantly in 2025. Almost 1.5 million households across all 31 local authorities availed of a three-bin waste collection service - an over 14% increase on 2024 and reflecting continued expansion of the brown bin rollout.

The report found there was significant variation in local-authority performance, with differences highlighted across areas including spending, revenue collection and service delivery.

Planning expenditure varied, from €67.86 per capita in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown to €27.06 in Cavan, while library expenditure ranged from €68.37 per capita in Longford to €22.43 in Galway County