Minister Browne Announces New Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund
- Published on: 5 March 2026
- Last updated on: 5 March 2026
New fund provides for greater targeting of deprived areas and widens net to make more towns eligible to apply
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD today announced a new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund to replace the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) which will provide greater focus on disadvantaged areas and widen the scope of eligibility to include more smaller towns.
While replacing the URDF, the new fund will continue to build on its success to date and apply many of the key criteria established by Government in 2018 for the URDF. The final details of the initial round of funding and call for applications under the new scheme will be issued by Minister Browne later this week with a closing date for applications of 1st May 2026.
Speaking today, Minister Browne emphasised:
“With a focus on supporting policies such as ‘Town Centre First’ and City Task Forces, as well as integrated Urban Regeneration, I am launching this week a new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund which will deliver transformative and impactful projects that will regenerate eligible areas.
“In particular, under this new scheme, I have ensured that the Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund will have an emphasis on targeting areas of disadvantage where regeneration will have a significant effect on the lives of those who live in those areas.
“This will be a game changer and provide a great opportunity for many towns and communities who may have felt left behind while other areas have prospered.
“The new scheme is also designed to widen the net of those who can apply. By lowering the limit for eligible towns from a population of 10,000 to 9,000, more towns will now be able to benefit from the funding we are providing.”
Greater support for disadvantaged areas
A key criteria for the URDF when it was established was that all supported projects would receive a maximum 75% funding support from the URDF programme with recipients providing the balance. While it is proposed that this criteria will continue under the new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund, the new scheme is focused on supporting the regeneration of disadvantaged areas in particular.
As set out in Pobal’s HP Deprivation Index, despite nationwide improvements in deprivation measures, the gapbetween Ireland’s most disadvantaged areas and the national average has increased. To address this imbalance, Minister Browne is increasing the maximum funding available to projects located within areas defined in the Pobal Index as ‘Disadvantaged’, ‘Very Disadvantaged’ or ‘Extremely Disadvantaged’, to 90% of the overall project costs. This increase will make it easier for projects from disadvantaged areas to apply from here on in.
More towns eligible to apply
A further criteria under the former URDF was a requirement that cities and towns must have a population greater than 10,000 or a minimum of 2,500 jobs to be eligible for support.Smaller towns below these thresholds are eligible for funding under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF) and other schemes operated by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.
The 2025 Programme for Government provided a commitment to ensure towns which fall slightly below thepopulation thresholds (of 10,000) are considered for applications under the new fund announced today. On that basis, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has carried out a review of the latest Census 2022 data to assess the additional towns that can be included. Minister Browne has decided that the criteria under the new Towns and Cities Infrastructure Investment Fund will be changed so that those towns with a population greater than 9,000 will be included – bringing more towns into the scope of the scheme.
There will be 2 categories of funding available under the first ‘Call for Proposals’ to be announced under the new scheme:
- Category 1A – Plan and Project Pipeline Development – will focus on supporting local authorities in creating apipeline of future projects for delivery in later years of the National Development Plan and to create momentum in delivery under the new Fund. This funding will be made available to progress certain plans (areamasterplans, Town Centre First Plans, etc) or initial design works for specific projects.
- Category 1B – Project Delivery - will focus on the delivery of capital projects within the short to medium term. Proposals for funding under this Category will be targeted at the implementation and construction of capital works projects that have been sufficiently advanced in design, planning or feasibility to progress in the coming months.
It is expected that initial funding proposals will be limited to a maximum of €150,000 under Category 1A and €7.5m per proposal (€9m in the case of proposals in deprived areas which are eligible for 90% funding) under Category 1B.
ENDS