€2B City Regeneration Fund Won't Be Splurging Money, Quite The Opposite
The government's new €2B Urban Regeneration and Development Fund will start with more of a whimper than a bang.
In the first year, 2019, just €100M will be available, rising to an average of €150M a year until the end of 2022 as part of another €450M allocated to the fund, according to official paperwork.
Funds could be spread thinly: an explanatory memorandum says that URDF covers 59 towns and cities including Dublin and the four main regional cities, the five regional growth centres, 36 towns with populations of more than 10,000 and 13 smaller towns.
A government seminar on the way the scheme will work is being held 9 July.
Minimum bids of €2M (or €10M in the big cities) must be matched by at least 25% funding from other sources, and must leverage at least as much again in further public sector development. So the URDF would provide just 25% of the project funding.
Backlands, under-utilised properties and barriers to redevelopment (like overhead power lines, or utility issues) are expected to be the focus of projects led by the public sector.
The fund was announced by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy in a statement.
Funds will be allocated on the basis of competitive bids during a window to close in September. A second round will be opened in mid-2019.
