Drogheda and Dundalk join the Living City Initiative today. Athlone, Letterkenny and Sligo are also included as Special Regeneration Areas. Property owners in designated parts of those towns can now claim tax relief to refurbish or convert buildings for homes or businesses.

What the designation does

Parts of the five towns have been added to Special Regeneration Area maps, making them eligible for Living City tax relief. Local authorities submitted the maps to identify central urban zones where vacancy, dereliction and underuse are most acute. The areas chosen tend to have a strong stock of older buildings—properties that can be brought back into use without new greenfield development.

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris signed the orders that officially designate the towns. The scheme was already available in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford; today's change broadens the list to include two towns in County Louth and three others across the west and north-west.

Eligibility and scope

The Initiative runs until the end of 2030 and covers residential properties built before 1975. It's open to people refurbishing properties for use as their main residence. It also provides allowances to support investment in rental housing and in commercial premises.

Budget measures introduced a new category of relief to encourage "living over the shop", aimed at bringing vacant space above retail units back into use. That particular relief carries no building-age restriction, so shop-owners and investors can apply it to more modern structures as well as older stock.

Why officials chose these towns

The maps submitted by local authorities highlight central streets and blocks where units sit empty or where buildings have fallen into disuse.

Those markers guided the Department's decision to extend the scheme. The goal is to promote refurbishment rather than demolition and dispersal—an approach that can revive town centres without adding pressure to greenfield sites.

"By supporting refurbishment and encouraging 'living over the shop', we can create more homes in our towns, reduce vacancy, and restore vibrancy to our main streets," Simon Harris said after signing the orders. "I want to see people living again in the hearts of our towns and villages. This initiative is a practical step towards making that happen."

Economic effects for towns and the wider region

Refurbishing empty and derelict buildings helps boost housing supply and supports local businesses.

Mastheads

If a vacant upper floor becomes a flat, footfall on the street below tends to rise; local cafés, shops and services benefit.

This scheme gives smaller towns a chance to attract residents and small businesses, competing better with bigger cities. The relief reduces upfront costs for owners and investors who might otherwise find refurbishment too costly compared with selling or demolishing.

While tax relief means some short-term costs for public finances, officials say it can lead to more local economic activity and a bigger tax base in the long run. The Department of Finance says the scheme is time-limited and focused on targeted areas where the need is clearest.

Political and planning considerations

By extending the Initiative, the government shows it prioritizes regenerating town centres. It aligns fiscal policy with planning objectives that favour repair and reuse. Ministers framed the move as a way to knit back social and economic life into main streets blighted by vacancy.

Local authorities now have responsibility for translating the maps into on-the-ground change—grant processes, planning permissions and co-ordination with property owners will matter. Where councils can speed up approvals and offer practical guidance, the relief is likelier to stimulate action.

Practical hurdles and likely outcomes

Fixing up older buildings can reveal extra costs that go beyond what owners first expect. That risk can deter smaller owners. The tax relief lowers one barrier, but it won't remove every obstacle—owners still face planning, building regulations and upfront finance hurdles.

For commercial premises, converting upper floors into residential units means complying with modern fire safety and access standards. For mixed-use blocks, balancing tenant needs with heritage protections can slow projects. Success stories will likely be those where councils, owners and private investors co-ordinate early and where technical supports are available.

Using upper floors actively will likely improve local services and brighten street life over time. The scheme is deliberately narrow in scope: it targets town-centre plots that have been underused for years rather than sweeping urban renewal across whole districts.

How towns can move from maps to homes

Owners in the designated areas should first check the Special Regeneration Area maps for their town and confirm eligibility.

They then need to factor in planning and building rules and seek professional advice on costs and timelines. Councils can help with advice and with clarifying any planning exemptions or supports linked to the regeneration areas.

For investors, the living-over-the-shop relief is a new incentive to consider small-scale projects that might previously have been marginal. For private owners, the opportunity to convert an empty upper floor into a main residence can be financially attractive, especially where finding new housing in nearby cities is costly.

Background and precedent

The Living City Initiative has been used in larger urban centres to steer refurbishment and tailor relief to areas with heritage stock. Extending it to smaller towns recognises that vacancy isn't a Dublin-only problem. It also taps into policy themes that have been prominent in recent Budgets—encouraging city and town-centre living while supporting older buildings.

The time-limited nature of the relief to 2030 is intended to focus effort and create a sense of urgency among owners and investors. That window gives local authorities and markets a fixed horizon to plan projects and public supports.

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“I want to see people living again in the hearts of our towns and villages,” Simon Harris, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, said after signing the orders.

This article was created with AI assistance.