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.
Please note the data contained within this release cannot be compared directly with other measures of vacancy including those available from organisations outside the CSO. These measures may have distinct definitions of vacancy and also different methods of collecting their data. For further information on the data sources, linking procedures, and limitations of this release, see the Background Notes and Methodology section.
There were 70,149 dwellings in Ireland which consumed very low levels of electricity over the 12-month period to the end of Quarter 4 (Q4) 2024. This gave an estimated national vacancy rate of 3.2% based on low electricity consumption.
Using low levels of metered electricity consumption as a measure for vacancy, the number of vacant dwellings fell from 72,254 (3.3%) in Q4 2023 to 70,149 (3.2%) in Q4 2024.
Over 2,100 more dwellings moved out of vacancy than became vacant in 2024.
Using Electricity Supply Board (ESB) designations, the rural vacancy rate was 5.4% and the urban vacancy rate was 2.2% in Q4 2024.
The Local Authorities with the highest vacancy rates in Q4 2024 were Leitrim (7.8%), Donegal (6.3%), and Mayo (6.0%).
In contrast, much lower vacancy rates were found in South Dublin (0.9%), Fingal (1.1%), and Kildare (1.4%).
Glenties in Donegal was the Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest number of vacant dwellings in Q4 2024 (1,615), while the lowest number was in Leixlip, Kildare (71).
In Q4 2024, 33% of vacant dwellings had a Building Energy Rating (BER) rating of F or G where a match could be made to a BER assessment.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030, the government’s housing action plan targets a reduction in residential vacancy, and the provision of detailed data can assist in this objective. Metered electricity consumption data in Ireland is collected by a single organisation (ESB Networks), which enhances its capacity to deliver insights into housing occupancy and vacancy levels in the State.
Residential Vacancy based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2024 is based on using very low levels of electricity consumption in individual dwellings to approximate residential vacancy. To reduce the possibility of misclassifying occupied dwellings as vacant, very low electricity consumption recorded over a one-year period is required for a dwelling to be classified as vacant for the purposes of this analysis. This release includes both the number of vacant residential units and rates from 2016-2024.
The classification of active ESB Network connections with a suitably low level of consumption over four consecutive quarters as vacant is intended to estimate a measure of long-term vacancy. This is distinct from the Census measure of vacancy which can include dwellings which are unoccupied for both short and long periods and therefore typically includes more dwellings. The stock of dwellings used in this release is the number of active ESB connections. This differs from the Census where the dwelling stock is primarily based on ‘on the ground’ enumeration by field staff at the time of the Census. Using electricity data to proxy dwelling level occupancy has also recently been used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The data contained within this release cannot be compared directly with other measures of vacancy which are available from organisations outside the CSO. These measures may have distinct definitions of vacancy and also different methods of collecting their data. Among the benefits of using the ESB Network data to measure vacancy is that it is a single source of information, and it provides geographical granularity and the capacity to link to other administrative data sources within the CSO for enrichment and validation. Currently, there is no generally accepted national or international standard on how residential vacancy should be defined or collected. Accordingly, it is acknowledged that the definition of vacancy and the method of data collection used in this release may not necessarily be suited to all users’ requirements and that the figures may vary significantly from other approaches to estimating residential vacancy.
In this release, a dwelling is defined as vacant when it has very little or no electricity consumption over four consecutive quarters (12 months). This definition identifies vacancy over an extended period of time. It should not be compared with other definitions of vacancy, for example Census 2022 or Property Tax Analysis published by Revenue. Using ESB Networks electricity consumption data also represents a significantly different way of collecting vacancy data to these and other approaches to residential vacancy. See Background Notes and Methodology chapter for more information on methodological differences between different measures of vacancy.
Learn more about the consumption threshold and time frame decisions for this release in the Background Notes. An FAQ is also available.
| National Residential Vacancy based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2024 | ||
| Vacant Dwelling Numbers | Vacancy Rate (%) | |
| Q4 2023 | 72,254 | 3.3 |
| Q3 2024 | 69,847 | 3.2 |
| Q4 2024 | 70,149 | 3.2 |
| Change | Rate Change | |
| Change in last quarter | (+302) | 0.0 |
| Change in last year | (-2,105) | -0.1 |
The number of vacant dwellings based on metered electricity consumption data was 70,149 in Q4 2024. This represented a fall of 2,105 from the 72,254 vacant dwellings recorded in Q4 2023. The estimated vacancy rate in Ireland for dwellings based on metered electricity consumption was 3.2% in Q4 2024, down from 3.3% in Q4 2023. See Figures 1.1, 1.2, Tables 1.1 & 1.2 and PxStat Table VAC12.
The Local Authority with the highest vacancy rate in Q4 2024 was Leitrim at 7.8%, followed by Donegal (6.3%), and Mayo (6.0%). The vacancy rate was lowest for South Dublin at 0.9%, Fingal (1.1%), and Kildare (1.4%) (See Map 1.1). The Local Authority with the highest number of vacant dwellings in Q4 2024 was Cork County at 6,632 followed by Dublin City (5,670) and Donegal (5,603). This number was lowest for Carlow (653), Galway City (658) and Laois (963).
Between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, the largest falls in vacant dwelling numbers were in Fingal (-347), Roscommon (-234), and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (-298). Six local authorities (Cork City, Cork County, Donegal, Dublin City, Galway City, and Waterford) saw rises in vacant dwelling numbers in this period. Vacancy rates, vacant dwellings, and dwelling stock (ESB residential connections) numbers by local authority are available in the PxStat Table VAC14.
The Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest vacancy rate in Q4 2024 was Adare-Rathkeale in Limerick at 9.9%, while the LEA with the lowest vacancy rate was Palmerstown-Fonthill in Dublin at 0.7% (Map 1.2 shows the rates of vacancy by LEA).
Vacant dwelling numbers were highest in Glenties in Donegal (1,615), Adare-Rathkeale in Limerick (1,347), and Kenmare in Kerry (1,183). The numbers of vacant dwellings were generally lower in Dublin, Kildare, and surrounding areas and in the other cities. The lowest numbers of vacant dwellings were in Leixlip in Kildare (71), Palmerstown-Fonthill (113) in Dublin, and Celbridge (97) in Kildare. Vacancy rates, vacant dwelling, and dwelling stock (ESB residential connections) numbers by LEA are available in the PxStat Table VAC15.
At an Electoral Division (ED) level there was a wide range of vacancy rates in Q4 2024. The highest vacancy rate in Q4 2024 was in An Ghrafaidh in Donegal at 21.3%, followed by Glenfarn (18.1%) and Cloverhill (16.3%) in Leitrim. The lowest vacancy rate in Q4 2024 was in Firhouse-Ballycullen in Dublin at 0.2%, with large areas of low vacancy around Dublin, Kildare, and Meath and the other cities (See Map 1.3).
The EDs in Dublin with the highest vacancy rates in Q4 2024 were Dún Laoghaire-East Central (7.7%), Mansion House B (7.4%), Inns Quay B (6.7%), and Pembroke West C (6.3%). Vacancy rates, vacant dwellings, and dwelling stock (ESB residential connections) by ED are available in the PxStat Table VAC16.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (24 March 2026) published a Frontier Series release that looks at vacancy numbers of residential dwellings using metered electricity consumption data for 2024. As a Frontier Series release, care must be taken when interpreting these results as methodologies may change and data sources may be incomplete.
Commenting on the release, Steven Conroy, Statistician in the Housing Division, said: “Today’s release identifies dwellings which were classified as vacant based on low levels of electricity consumption of around 2kWh per day, or 180kWh per quarter, over a period of at least four consecutive quarters. For context, 2kWh consumption is enough to power a medium-sized fridge for a day. This methodology provides insight into where vacant dwellings are and how vacancy rates have changed over time. The CSO has previously published Residential Vacancy Based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2023, Metered Electricity Consumption and Vacant Dwelling Indicators based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2021 using data provided by ESB Networks. Please see the Information Note and Editor's Note below for more information.
National Vacancy
The estimated vacancy rate in Ireland for dwellings based on metered electricity consumption was 3.2% in Q4 2024. The vacancy rate nationally fell from 3.3% in Q4 2023 to 3.2% in Q4 2024. The number of vacant dwellings based on metered electricity consumption data was 70,149 in Q4 2024, which was down from 72,254 in Q4 2023.
Geographical Aspects
In Q4 2024, there were 35,493 vacant dwellings in rural areas compared with 34,656 in urban areas. This resulted in a rural vacancy rate of 5.4% and an urban vacancy rate of 2.2%. Vacancy rates were lower in Dublin, Kildare, and the surrounding areas and in the other cities: Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The Local Authority with the highest vacancy rate was Leitrim at 7.8%, while the Local Authority with the lowest vacancy rate was South Dublin at 0.9%. The highest numbers of vacant dwellings at a Local Authority level were in Cork County (6,632), Dublin City (5,670), and Donegal (5,603), with the lowest numbers in Carlow (653), Galway City (658), and Laois (963).
The Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest vacancy rate was Adare-Rathkeale in Limerick at 9.9%, while the LEA with the lowest vacancy rate was Palmerstown-Fonthill in Dublin at 0.7%. Glenties in Donegal was the LEA with the highest number of vacant dwellings in Q4 2024 (1,615), while the lowest was in Leixlip in Kildare (71).
At an Electoral Division (ED) level there was a wide range of vacancy rates in Q4 2024. The highest vacancy rate in Q4 2024 was in An Ghrafaidh in Donegal at 21.3% with large areas of low vacancy around Dublin, Kildare, and Meath and the other cities: Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
Vacancy Flows
This release presents quarterly data on the number of dwellings moving out of vacancy and the number of dwellings that become vacant. A dwelling is considered to move out of vacancy when, following a period of at least four consecutive quarters of electricity consumption below 180kWh per quarter, electricity consumption rises above 180kWh in the next quarter. Similarly, a dwelling moves into vacancy following four consecutive quarters of electricity consumption below 180kWh after previously having consumed more than this amount. In 2024, we found that 2,105 more dwellings moved out of vacancy than moved into vacancy in that year.
This release features a new section which analyses the characteristics of these vacancy flow groups. In 2024, we found that dwellings moving out of vacancy were more likely to be in rural areas, have higher BER ratings, be houses rather than apartments and have been constructed in more recent years. While for dwellings becoming vacant, they were more likely to be in urban areas, have lower BER ratings, be houses rather than apartments and have an older year of construction.
Building Energy Ratings (BER) and Vacant Dwellings
Among vacant dwellings that could be matched to a Building Energy Rating (BER) assessment in Q4 2024, detached houses were the most common dwelling type, making up 37% of vacant dwellings. Around a third (33%) of dwellings which were vacant in Q4 2024 had a BER rating of F or G and less than a fifth (18%) were constructed since 2001. The most popular forms of heating were heating oil (41%), mains gas (25%), and electricity (22%). It was also found that around 4% of vacant dwellings had Solar Energy as a renewable energy source in Q4 2024."