This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.
This release provides indicators of estimated residential vacancy using electricity consumption data. For the purposes of this release, dwellings were considered to be vacant where - for an individual quarter - they had less than 180kWh of consumption recorded in data provided by Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Networks, for at least four consecutive quarters (for the reference quarter and at least three consecutive prior quarters). The denominator for all vacancy rates included in this release is the number of unique ESB Networks connections where there is a consumption figure recorded (including where this is zero) for the relevant quarter. The housing stock figure calculated in this way for Q1 2022 is comparable to the equivalent figure reported in Census 2022. Vacancy rates could change over time as dwellings have low consumption for a fourth quarter or have consumption above the threshold - a change in the numerator.
They can also change as the denominator increases due to new dwellings being connected to the electricity grid or re-connections of previously terminated or deactivated connections; or decreases with dwellings going into dereliction. Buildings converted from commercial to residential use and vice-versa would affect this also.
Analysis and linkage in this release were undertaken by the CSO for statistical purposes in line with the Statistics Act, 1993 and the CSO Data Protocol.
Before using personal administrative data for statistical purposes, the CSO removed all identifying personal information, including the Eircode and Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN), and created pseudonymised Protected Identifier Keys (PIKs). The PIK is a unique and non-identifiable number which is internal to the CSO. Using PIKs enables the CSO to link and analyse data for statistical purposes, while protecting the security and confidentiality of the individual data. All records in the matched datasets are pseudonymised and the results are in the form of statistical aggregates which do not identify any individuals.
Quarterly electricity consumption per Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN), expressed in kilowatt hours (kWh), is supplied annually by ESB Networks to the CSO. The data can be based on actual or estimated meter readings, but the data file provided to the CSO does not distinguish between these two types of readings. Only active connections are examined in this release. Deactivated and terminated connections are excluded. This base should therefore be a reasonable proxy for habitable dwellings.
A threshold of 180kWh consumption within a quarter was used in the analysis to define vacancy. This equates to an average of approximately 2kWh per day which is the level of usage that Electric Ireland applied when deciding on a low usage standing charge. Predominantly only empty or vacant households and premises were expected by Electric Ireland to attract this charge. For context, 2kWh consumption is enough to keep a medium sized fridge running for a day.
For this release, which is published as part of the CSO Frontier Series, a dwelling is defined as vacant where electricity consumption is below 180kWh for at least four consecutive quarters. Consumption is examined over a year, and not a single quarter, for two reasons: this gives more insights on long-term vacancy; and quarterly consumption figures are often estimated and may not fully reflect reality. Actual meter readings are usually taken on at least an annual basis. This means that if a dwelling has low consumption over the course of a full year, this should be accurately captured across all four quarters.
ESB Networks is currently installing smart meters across the country. The consistent format and method of collection of data from regular smart meter readings may allow for more granular and accurate analysis of occupancy and vacancy in the future. The CSO will continue to examine this and other potential ways of producing regular residential vacancy data from administrative data sources.
In some instances, numbers in the graphs and tables which form proportional distributions have been adjusted to ensure that the sum of the figures when rounded to one decimal place still equals 100.
The Urban-Rural classification used within this release relates to the tariff category, Distribution Use of System (DUoS) given by ESB Networks. DG1 is urban domestic and DG2 is rural domestic.
The DUoS is determined by factors such as the type of use, maximum import capacity (MIC), and the nature of the connecting network. A domestic customer premises is defined as any premises whose main purpose is that of a single residence and where the connection agreement is with a private individual with an MIC up to 29,000 voltamperes.
Urban domestic connections are defined as domestic connections that are fed from a three-phase overhead or underground low voltage network. Rural domestic connections are defined as domestic connections that are fed from a single-phase overhead network.
The ESB Networks definition of urban and rural areas is not comparable with the definition used in Census 2022.
All geographical analysis is based on latest available boundaries. This includes analysis related to time periods prior to boundary changes. For example, Local Authority and Local Electoral Area (LEA) level analysis in Cork is based on property location in relation to the new Cork City boundaries after changes in May 2019. Local Authorities, LEAs, and Electoral Divisions (EDs) are assigned through geocoding of addresses undertaken within the CSO (including using Eircodes provided within the ESB Networks dataset). It was not possible to assign these geographies to all addresses with sufficient accuracy. These addresses are not included within the relevant geographical analysis.
Data has been provided to the CSO by ESB Networks detailing electricity customers and quarterly consumption. For this analysis only customers in the tariff categories DG1 and DG2 have been examined. DG1 is urban domestic and DG2 is rural domestic. Electricity consumption is measured in Kilowatt Hours (kWh). A kilowatt hour is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power sustained over an hour. Meter readings data were converted to quarterly consumption estimates by ESB Networks. Meter readings can be actual or estimated. Actual readings can be from a meter reader or from the customer. The data file provided to the CSO did not provide information on whether the consumption in a period was based on an actual or estimated reading. Each electricity connection has a unique MPRN. Each unique MPRN is considered a unique dwelling for the purpose of this analysis.
This data included assessments done for the Building Energy Rating (BER) and was compiled by the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI). The data available to the CSO and used in this analysis includes assessments from 2009 to 2023. Buildings are rated from A to G where A-rated homes are the most energy efficient.
The BER dataset contains the same MPRN identifier as in the ESB Networks consumption data and thus allows for accurate linkage of the datasets. Not all ESB Networks connections will have had BER assessments as these are predominately necessary just for sales and lettings. Therefore, it is known that the analysis by BER rating, dwelling type, and period of construction does not show a full representation of the total dwelling stock as certain types of dwellings are more likely to have had BER assessments because of being sold and rented out in recent years, including for new builds which are likely to be overrepresented in the matched dataset.
Table 4.1 details match rates between ESB Networks connections and BER assessments. Where a dwelling has more than one BER assessment it is matched to the most recent assessment. Matches are only made to BER assessments made in years before and including the year of consumption that is being examined.
This dataset details local property tax (LPT) from all active residential properties on 01 November 2023. The LPT has been linked to the ESB Networks consumption data via a pseudonymised Protected Identifier Key (PIK) based on the Eircode of properties. The LPT dataset received from Revenue has Eircodes provided for 88% of records. The ESB Networks data has an Eircode provided for 64% of records. Where Eircodes were not provided, the CSO has assigned Eircodes through automated geocoding software. Properties where the Eircode could not be assigned with sufficient accuracy using this software or where the same Eircode was allocated to multiple addresses were excluded. For all dwellings in Q4 2023, 63% were matched between ESB Networks data and LPT data. It can be more challenging to accurately assign Eircodes where they have non-unique addresses, which mainly occurs in rural areas.
The COPA is a pseudonymised copy of the Census of Population 2022 dataset held internally within the CSO for analysis purposes. It contains Census attribute information for individuals and households.
The CSO undertook an extensive validation exercise on the ESB consumption data series which is used in Residential Vacancy based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2023. The main purpose of this work was to remove records on the ESB Networks file which may correspond to non-dwellings such as an agricultural building. Changes in methodology were made resulting from this exercise which entails that caution should be exercised when comparing this release with the previous CSO release Residential Vacancy based on Metred Electricity Consumption 2021. The key changes were as follows:
Records with electricity consumption of 180 kWh or less per quarter over at least four consecutive quarters were excluded from the vacant data series where:
The threshold of electricity consumption of below 180 kWh per quarter for four consecutive quarters is used in this release to identify vacant dwellings as it reflects the volume of electricity associated with low usage charges. Table 4.3 displays the number of vacant dwellings as of Q4 2023, using lower metered electricity consumption thresholds of below 90kWh and 45kWh across four consecutive quarters.
Data matching was carried out between those dwellings categorised as vacant using ESB consumption Q4 2023 data and Local Property Tax (LPT) 2023 data. This was done using Eircodes where available on both datasets. As indicated in Table 4.4, the match rate between the two data sources was approximately 63%. Among the records matched using the ESB data for Q4 2023 and based on the standard definition of vacancy used in this publication, the following results were found:
For additional insight, the analysis was extended to dwellings with levels of electricity consumption lower than have been used to categorise vacancy in this release.
The national dwelling stock based on ESB residential connections data was 2,182,979 in Q4 2023. The dwelling stock grew by 33,553 (from 2,149,426 to 2,182,979) between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023 based on ESB metered electricity consumption data (See Figure 4.1). Table 4.5 displays the full data series of the dwelling stock from ESB residential connections from Q1 2016 to Q4 2023.
Direct comparisons between dwelling stock from the Census of Population and the dwelling stock estimated from ESB residential connections data calculated within this release should be treated with caution due to differences in how the data are compiled. The dwelling stock figures from both sources are produced below in Table 4.6 for comparable time periods.
In Census 2022, CSO produced a proxy for long term vacancy based on identifying dwellings which were vacant in both Census 2016 and 2022. While direct comparisons between Census vacancy and the approach to vacancy used in this release should be treated with caution due to differences in data collection and definitions, it can be illustrative to examine the Census ‘long term’ vacancy data and dwellings which were vacant for at least six years from metered electricity consumption data to the end of Q1 2022, which was close to the period of Census 2022. This data is produced in Table 4.7 below.
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