Cork County Council aiming to address housing crises by bringing vacant buildings back in to use

Cork County Council’s Town Regeneration Office has surveyed more than 2,700 apparently vacant and derelict properties in the hopes of bringing some back into use to address the housing crisis.

However, the council said that not every vacant and derelict property is suitable for residential occupancy.

The council’s statement came after The Echo revealed recently that 7,000 people were on the local authority housing waiting list in Cork county at the end of 2023.

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that 6,926 people were on the housing waiting list. Some 4,251 of these were existing tenants requesting a transfer.

The majority of those on the waiting list, 2,836, were to be found in South Cork, with 2,215 in North Cork and 1,875 in West Cork.

Delivery programme

A spokesperson for Cork County Council said the local authority has an annual social housing delivery programme which is the primary mechanism for the provision of accommodation for people on the housing list.

“On average, the council allocates 600 social houses annually,” she said.

“Cork County Council is progressing a county-wide assessment of vacant and derelict property. Calls have been made for local authorities to focus on bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use to address the lack of housing across Cork and Ireland.

“To date, council’s Town Regeneration Office has surveyed over 2,700 such properties and is now in the process of carrying out further assessments on those that are vacant and are considered to meet the legal definition of a derelict site under the Derelict Sites Act 1990. 

"It should be noted that property owners and occupiers have a legal responsibility under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their property does not become or continue to be derelict.”

The spokesperson added that the Town Regeneration Office seeks to work collaboratively with property owners to maximise the potential use of vacant and derelict properties in an effort to promote town regeneration and bring vacant and derelict properties back into meaningful use.

“Where collaborative efforts fail, the Derelict Sites Act 1990 provides for the compulsory acquisition of derelict sites by the local authority. In 2023, Cork County Council compulsorily acquired three derelict residential properties.”