Calls for urgent action as 17,000 vacant dwellings recorded in Cork 

There were more than 17,000 vacant dwellings across Cork during the last recorded census, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

A dwelling is classed as vacant by census enumerators if it is unoccupied on census night, is not utilised as a holiday home and is not normally inhabited by occupants who are temporarily absent at the time of census. The census definition of a vacant dwelling is a point in time indicator taken on census night to determine whether the property was inhabited on Sunday, April 3, 2022.

According to the CSO, there were 5,061 vacant properties in Cork city along with 11,994 in Cork county during the last recorded census. 

There were 7,252 unoccupied holiday homes recorded in the county, along with 192 in the city.

Labour Local area rep for Cork South-East, Peter Horgan, said the number of vacant properties in Cork is worrying.

"In this day and age it’s not acceptable to see this level of vacancy when there are families crying out for homes," he said. 

"The issue of dereliction and vacant properties are constantly coming up on the doors. 

"People are struggling to afford to buy a home, and those who are renting are facing crippling rents.

"The Government's housing policy is a complete and utter failure”, Mr Horgan added. “House prices are soaring and people are struggling to put a roof over their heads. The Government needs to get its act together and deliver on its housing promises. We need to see more social and affordable housing being built, and we need to see action to tackle the issue of dereliction. Labour are calling on the Government to tackle the supply and affordability crisis, which can only be resolved through long-term State action."

Vacancy and Dereliction Emergency

Frank O’Connor, who runs Anois with his partner Jude Sherry has been campaigning to highlight vacancy and dereliction in Cork in recent years. 

Speaking to The Echo, he warned that the vacancy issue could spiral into a dereliction crisis.

"It’s an emergency at the end of the day," Mr O'Connor said, calling for the introduction of a compulsory rental process.

“Vacancy is a gateway to dereliction and I think that we should really look at bringing in new policy measures around vacancy. In Amsterdam they have a situation where properties can only be vacant for six months," he explained. 

"At that stage the local authority links in with the owner to identify someone to use the property. This is done through a compulsory rental process. With vacancy, what we would be interested in doing is introducing new policy mechanisms around compulsory rental," he said. 

"This would have a huge impact on the housing crisis."

Mr O'Connor stated that fines could serve as a major disincentive for people with vacant properties.

“If you look back over the last couple of years, a number of the properties we identified that were derelict have come back into use," he said.  "However, there are also a number of properties that were vacant that are now derelict so there is always that concern. If you look at how the council is tackling dereliction, they are struggling with the enforcement of dereliction laws. Our enforcement is going down when it should be rising. 

"There is a concern that it could rise even higher if we don’t bring in some extra policy tools," he added. "If you bring in things like compulsory rental and a large fine as well, there is a higher likeliness that the property will come back into use."

Mr O'Connor highlighted the incoming vacant property tax, which will be three times the basic rate of Local Property Tax for the property, as "very small". 

"It’s not a disincentive for owners," he said. "This percentage isn’t going to impact the bottom line. There are a lot of vacant properties in Cork and across the country.

“We need to do something about this quite urgently," he added. "We all know the housing crisis is not going away. Numbers are rising every month. The numbers of people on lists to get houses from the council are also rising. 

"There could be people holding them long term as they wait for opportunities. 

"The problem with this is the high housing demand. If you sit on a property, it will rise every year so you are going to get a return by doing nothing. This is why need disincentives. You need some way to ensure that owners don’t sit on a property. If it’s not maintained at least it could be sold and someone could turn it into a home or even rent it."