Leitrim's massive vacant property rate revealed as highest in the country, CSO

Leitrim had the most vacant properties of any county in the country last year, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published on Tuesday.

Local authorities in the North-West had the highest number of vacant properties according to the data, with Leitrim having the highest vacancy rate in the country, with 7.8%, while Donegal had the second highest on 6.3%.

The data uses low levels of electricity measured at the meter as an indicator that a property is vacant. Based on that information, there were 70,149 properties in the country that were vacant last year.

Nationally, around 3.2% of properties were vacant based on low electricity consumption.

The rate of vacant homes in the country dropped from 2024, meaning there was a fall in vacant dwellings of 3.3% from 72,254 in Q4 2023 to Q4 2024.

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).

The rural vacancy rate was 5.4%, significantly higher than the urban rate of 2.2% in Q4 2024.

The lowest rates of vacancies came in the east of the country in South Dublin, which had a rate of 0.9%, Fingal on 1.1%, and Kildare on 1.4%.