Council urged to start compulsory purchase orders after surveying properties in Cork city

CORK City Council said it is working with the owners of 705 vacant or derelict properties across the city, following a survey of more than 13,000 properties in the summer of 2023.

While the news has been welcomed, calls have been made for the council to begin compulsory purchase order proceedings in relation to a number of properties.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council revealed to The Echo that the local authority conducted a survey of over 13,000 properties in the summer of 2023, identifying properties as occupied, vacant, or derelict.

“The information was correlated with national data and the existing Cork City Council derelict sites database, to assist in decisionmaking around addressing dereliction and vacancy.”

The spokesperson went on to state that this resulted in Cork City Council increasing the number of properties formally on the derelict sites register by 40% in 2023.

The council also increased the number of sites formally under investigation for potential placement on the register by 37%.

“Cork City Council is actively working with owners of 705 vacant and derelict properties across the city,” the spokesperson added.

At the time of writing, there were more than 150 properties on Cork City Council’s derelict sites register — including some that were placed on the register in the 1990s.

There were also just eight properties on the council’s vacant sites register.

'Better late than never'

Cork-based activists and urban designers Dr Frank O’Connor and Jude Sherry run Derelict Cork — highlighting vacancy and dereliction across Cork — and Anois, a design consultancy firm concerned with social justice and sustainability.

Speaking to The Echo, they welcomed the news that Cork City Council are “finally” carrying out comprehensive surveys of properties in the city.

“While this should have happened years ago, it is better late than never,” Dr O’Connor said.

“We believe that the numbers of 705 vacant and derelict properties across the city is a more accurate reflection of the scale.

“In our 2021 study, we found 700 within 2km of the city centre — scandalous numbers in a housing emergency.

“In our 2023 study, we found 78% of these properties were still derelict.

“Of course, neither study reflects the office vacancy levels of almost 20%, which also needs to be addressed.

“The key for the council now is to urgently register all the derelict properties on the Derelict Sites Register, the essential first steps for every local authority in enforcing the law that has been in place since 1990, but has not been taken seriously in so many cases.

“This lack of enforcement of the law has stopped people having homes, traumatised generations, and eroded our beautiful towns and city centres across the country.”

Ms Sherry added: “The Derelict Sites Register enables the local authorities to track the properties and collect the annual 7% levy, and issue a compulsory purchase order where necessary.

“[This is] something Cork City Council have suggested they will do after a property is empty for two years.

“From a quick search, we found about 80 properties on the registry for longer than two years, which the council should now be preparing to [issue a compulsory purchase order for].

“Given these positive steps forward, we look forward to significant progress towards ending dereliction in the coming years — particularly given Limerick City Council have debunked the myth that compulsory purchase order don’t work, with a recent surge of acquisitions.

“There is no reason Cork City Council can’t do the same and bring these much-needed properties back into use.”

Dr O’Connor and Ms Sherry added they would be happy to arrange a walking tour for Cork City Council chief executive Ann Doherty and her team, to “help them understand the realities of life in the city centre surrounded by decay and dereliction”.