Hugh Wallace: We have a real chance to alleviate Ireland’s desperate housing needs. This is how we can do it

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am beyond passionate about the restoration and conservation of our architectural heritage. I firmly believe that buildings should be lived in and that people are their lives and soul. Owners and families keep the hearts of our buildings beating. It’s about the everyday tasks: putting on the heating, opening the windows and doing all the cleaning and day-to-day maintenance that together help to ensure our old buildings remain the homes of our future.

I was lucky enough recently to attend a meeting of the local authorities participating in the Living City Initiative, which was established in 2015 by Michael Noonan, as minister for finance. It offers attractive tax incentives to those willing to embark on the journey of restoring and rehabilitating heritage buildings within designated special regeneration areas, or SGAs, in the historic inner cities of Cos Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford. The initiative’s purpose is to encourage people back to live in these once-historic buildings while investing in and conserving our rich architectural heritage. All music to my ears.

We need to find the common, sensible ground between conservation, building regulations and the owner’s needs. Whatever the solution, viability on all sides has to be at the heart of the necessary compromise

I wasn’t surprised to hear at this meeting that we have more than 160,000 vacant properties across the island of Ireland, in various states of repair, but all ready to be refurbished and reoccupied. The Living City Initiative gives us the opportunity to do just that. With my newsfeed overflowing constantly with reports of our record-breaking homeless figures and skyrocketing rental prices, it was inspiring to find myself among a group of people with a common goal: to create sustainable, vibrant and lived-in cities. This initiative presents a real opportunity to help alleviate our desperate housing needs.

While the original scheme was supposed to close at the end of this year having been extended in 2019, the plan now is for it to be continued for a further three years. And while there will be some important changes made to the criteria, all of these should benefit the scheme’s successful applicants. These changes are expected to be announced in the forthcoming budget and, along with the extension of the scheme’s time frame, are set to include, among other things, the shortening of the tax-back period from 10 to seven years, with owner-occupiers getting 100 per cent relief on their expenditure with no maximum cap. This represents a genuine effort to offset the additional costs generated by the refurbishment of an older property.

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However, if this initiative is really to work, I believe a number of additional changes will be required to enhance and deliver it properly. The first of these should be for the cut-off year for eligible residential properties to be extended from those built pre-1915 to 1950. This would see the initiative begin to capture properties built at a time when a fundamental change in construction methods and materials saw the introduction of blockwork. There is a swathe of buildings in the centres of Galway, Limerick and Waterford built between the first and second World Wars that would benefit from this initiative.

We need to accept that when it comes to refurbishment, not every lath-and-plaster wall or ceiling can be saved

The second change we would like to see is the establishment of a streamlined, one-stop shop for the initiative in each participating local authority. This would not only ensure a greater awareness and promotion of the scheme, but would also simplify the application process with reference to planning, fire safety, disability access certification, conservation expertise and the myriad of other issues encountered by anyone looking to bring a building back to a habitable condition.

The most important revision, however, needs to be in relation to our fire and building regulations. The challenge is to make these more appropriate and achievable for older buildings. As it stands, the conditions imposed by these regulations are proving to be a significant impediment to many of our finest older properties being viably restored. We need a solution that is both practical and fit for purpose. We also need to accept that when it comes to refurbishment, not every lath-and-plaster wall or ceiling can be saved.

Central to the success of refurbishment projects targeted by the Living City Initiative is finding the common, sensible ground between three important factors that, at present, don’t happily fit together: conservation, building regulations and the owner’s own needs. Whatever the solution, viability on all sides has to be at the heart of the necessary compromise.

Opportunity genuinely knocks for all of us in our cities. We have to seize this moment. At a time where sustainability is imperative, we must invest in our cities and ourselves and commit to a social and economic policy of re-using our old buildings, of creating vibrant neighbourhoods and diverse communities. Our heritage isn’t about big buildings and bigger budgets. A lot of the homes that will benefit from the initiative are terraced houses and small cottages, the very fabric of our society. Ultimately, I believe, this Living City Initiative can and will deliver housing for all.