Over half of the 145 vacant homes owned by Donegal County Council deemed 'defective'

As the housing crisis continues to impact many across the country, new figures have revealed that Donegal County Council is in possession of 145 vacant homes within Donegal. 

According to Donegal County Council's Housing Authority, as of 23 September 2025 there were 145 vacant housing units in the ownership of the council. 

In confirming this figure, a spokesperson for the council added that 15 housing units have been earmarked for new tenants. 

Of the remaining 130 homes, major refurbishment works is required for 8 of them while 39 are deemed within the 'Casual Vacancy' stage wherein assessment, tender, and works are ongoing.

The spokesperson also noted that 83 units "are not available for re-letting" as they are "affected by defective concrete blocks." 

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Looking at the figure of vacant homes from a national perspective, the National Oversight and Audit Commission's (NOAC) latest report published at the end of September showed that there were a total of 4,251 housing units owned by local authorities across the country that were vacant at the end of last year. This was up from 4,196 in 2023.

Within this report, it stated that the national average of vacant properties within local authorities' stock was 2.75% at the end of last year. Donegal was among the 13 counties with the highest rate of vacant properties, totalling 3.04% by the end of 2024.

The news comes following the Central Statistic Office's report last week, 'Characteristics of Residential Property Purchasers 2022-2024', which showed the impact the housing crisis is having on the demographic of those buying homes across Ireland, and in Donegal.

The median price of homes sold in the county last year was €185,000. The breakdown of the median price of homes across Donegal's local electoral areas last year saw Buncrana come in at €180,000, Lifford-Stranorlar at €154,000, Letterkenny at €208,000, Donegal at €205,000, Glenties at €170,000 and Milford at €239,000. Carndonagh actually had the lowest median price among LEAs nationally, coming in at €147,500.

Last year, the national median income of those who bought homes was €84,400, up from €80,100 in 2023, and €75,600 in 2022.