Over 12,000 vacant homes in Westmeath and Roscommon

There are almost 12,300 vacant homes across Westmeath and Roscommon, according to last week's census figures. Roscommon accounted for the larger proportion (over 7,300), whilst there were just under 5,000 vacant homes in Westmeath. However, the percentage of vacant homes in Westmeath actually fell since the last census in 2006. Overall, the number of housing units in Westmeath rose by 4,018 in the five years from 2006 to 2011 from 32,817 to 36,835. In 2006, 5,015 of the dwellings within the county were vacant, while the figure this time out is 4,979, down 36. For that reason, the vacancy rates actually fell in the last five years in Westmeath from 15.3% to 13.5%, but it still means that more than one in seven homes in the county are empty. In Roscommon, the vacancy rate increased from 21.8% to 23%, meaning more than one in every five homes in the county was unoccupied. Overall, the county's housing stock rose from 26,979 to 31,718, but the level of vacancies rose at a higher rate, from 5,889 in 2006 to 7,302 this time around. Nationally, the number of vacant dwellings has increased by 10.5 per cent. The Central Statistics Office explains that in identifying vacant dwellings, enumerators were instructed to look for signs that the dwelling was not occupied, for example, that there was no furniture, no cars outside, junk mail accumulating, overgrown gardens etc. Holiday houses are among those counted as "vacant", although as greater detail from the Census begins emerging, it will be clearer what percentage of Ireland's vacant houses are actually holiday homes.