Almost 100 Cork City Council properties vacant for more than two years

Nearly 100 properties owned by Cork City Council have been vacant for more than two years, with councillors calling it “disgraceful” and “a scourge”.

A total of 342 council properties were vacant as of March 1 — 16 in the South West ward, 39 in the South East, 46 in the South Central ward, 92 in the North East, and 149 in the North West.

According to Cork City Council figures, 97 of those properties were vacant between 12 months and 24 months, while 99 were vacant for longer than two years.

Between January 2023 and January 2024, the number of vacant properties decreased by 34%.

However, between January 2024 and March 2025, they reduced by just 3%.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Echo that vacant properties represent just 3.17% of its stock of 10,800 homes.

“Cork City Council prioritises the return of properties with the least work required, with the aim of returning the maximum number of houses each year. This can lead to properties requiring extensive repairs, such as fire-damaged houses, requiring longer return times.

“The priority is to return as many houses as soon as possible for allocation.”

Cork City Council are currently focusing resources on resolving properties in the north-west area and advancing extensively damaged or derelict properties, intending to further reduce vacancies in 2025.

Sinn Féin councillor for the North West ward Michelle Gould said that the figures were “incredibly frustrating and concerning”.

“Vacant houses contribute to more than just a lack of housing, they can attract anti-social behaviour and littering, and are an eyesore in the community.

“There are 241 vacant boarded up houses on the northside when there are only 101 on the southside.

“The stark contrast is deeply troubling, as it highlights inequalities across the city.”

She was critical that 196 homes were vacant for more than a year.

“It’s clear that the current pace of addressing these issues is not nearly fast enough.”

Workers’ Party councillor for the North East ward Ted Tynan said that it was “disgraceful” that homes were left idle.

“I know of houses lying idle for four or five years in Mayfield, and they’re boarded up with steel shutters that are leased from a private company at huge costs. It’s an awful lot of money going down the drain.”

The Echo previously revealed that a total of €851,821 was spent on shutters to secure vacant and derelict properties between January 2020 and October 2024.

Labour’s South East ward councillor, Peter Horgan, said that vacancy “is a scourge that blights our communities and even more so when the houses are in council ownership”.

“If the issues are resources, then central Government must establish a type of roving workforce to bring these properties back into use as swiftly as possible,” he added.

He suggested that many would be willing to take a house and do the repairs themselves. “A house vacant for a day is a day too long, given the homeless crisis we have staining our social conscience.”

The Social Democrats councillor for the South Central ward, Niamh O’Connor, said that “while it is positive to see some progress in this area, it is still not enough in the context of the spiralling housing crisis the city is facing,” adding that long-term vacancies amid rising homelessness figures is “hugely problematic”.

“It isn’t acceptable to leave even one property vacant for over a year when children all over our city are growing up crowded into one bedroom with their parents, or in hotel rooms, or in homeless hubs.”