Property-led Urban, Town and Rural Regeneration in Ireland: Positive and Perverse Outcomes in Different Spatial and Socio-economic Contexts

In the mid-1980s, fiscal incentives were introduced to encourage the
construction and refurbishment of residential developments in declining
inner-city districts in Ireland. These were abolished in 2006 but,
during the intervening period, their focus was extended to include:
large towns, small towns and a large rural region. Concurrently, the
context for their implementation changed as an economic boom replaced
prolonged economic stagnation. This article examines the changing design
of these incentives, their outputs and their intended and unintended
impacts. It argues that, initially they were successful in drawing
development into declining neighbourhoods, but the extension of their
lifespan and spatial focus created negative perverse impacts and
deadweight costs for the exchequer. Thus it concludes that this
regeneration strategy is useful for animating development in brownfield
sites, where there is demand for housing but also barriers to its
development. If applied to rural areas where housing demand is weaker,
they can generate excess supply and limited benefits for public
investment.