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Vacant To Vibrant Building Alliance – Final Recommendations

Recommendations to help meet the target of 300,000 new homes by 2030, supporting compact growth and vibrant urban living.

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Ireland faces urgent housing and climate challenges, yet many properties in towns and cities remain vacant or underused. Renovating these spaces offers a fast, cost-effective way to deliver homes, revitalise communities, and cut emissions.

While progress has been made – with over 11,000 Vacant Homes Grant approvals by July 2025 – more action is needed. An estimated 120,000+ homes could be unlocked through better use of existing stock, including above-shop units and intensified use. Deep retrofits also produce just 25% of the embodied carbon of new builds.

This document outlines recommendations to help meet the target of 300,000 new homes by 2030, supporting compact growth and vibrant urban living. It’s structured in two parts: immediate actions and steps for the next 2–3 years.

 

This initiative is funded by #BuildingLife, a project led by WorldGBC, and driven by 12 Green Building Councils (GBCs): Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK. The project is working to deliver on the European Green Deal aim of a climate neutral Europe by 2050 by working to eliminate both the operational and embodied carbon – ‘Whole Life Carbon’ (WLC) – impact of buildings.

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