From the DSFA document on Means Assessment
Assessment of house property
Property covered by this rule includes houses (other than a person's own home), buildings or land owned but not personally used or enjoyed.
The house in which a person resides, together with furniture and personal effects is not assessed.
Property must be capable of being sold, let or put to profitable use before a capital value assessment is applied.
The most common example is where a person owns a second house. If the house is let, the owner is assessed with the capital value of the property, not with the income from the letting. Similarly, the market value of leases and ground rents is assessed as capital; the income is not assessed.
Any outstanding mortgage registered against the property is deducted from the market value.
Weekly means are assessed as follows:
Capital .........................Weekly Means Assessed
First €20,000 ...........................Nil
Next €10,000 ....................€1 per €1,000
Next €10,000 ....................€2 per €1,000
Excess of €40,000 .............€4 per €1,000
If both parties are in receipt of, or claiming, means tested payments, the asset should not be assessed in full against both. Depending on any other relevant factors, it should be assessed against both on a shared basis or against one only.
Link to the SW document