‘It will take 30 years to end dereliction,’ Cork activist warns Dáil committee
“Vacancy is the gateway to dereliction”, but not enough vacant homes are taxed, Mr O’Connor said. Picture Chani Anderson
It will take 30 years to end dereliction at the current pace, Cork’s Frank O’Connor, co-founder of Anois, said in the Dáil’s housing committee about dereliction recently.
In his opening statement, Mr O’Connor said: “There is still a long way to go to end the blight of dereliction in our villages, towns and cities. Just look at the statistics. We are in a dire situation with 350k people in urgent need of their own home while nearly 300k homes are wasted.
“Every year a few buildings collapse onto the streets, revealing a broken social contract and failed urban and housing strategies. This dangerous and life-threatening hoarding of private wealth is still being protected while everyone else must live with the resulting public squalor.”
“The registry needs to be increased by an eye watering 935% to close the gap between the derelict homes counted by GeoDirectory and those officially registered by Local Authorities."
He welcomed enforcement of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 increasing, but said the rate is too slow:
“Vacancy is the gateway to dereliction”, but not enough vacant homes are taxed, Mr O’Connor said. He added that the Croí Cónaithe Grant has been a success, “there are serious concerns the grants are being used on holiday homes and short term lets, increasing the price of derelict properties, as well as encouraging owners to leave their houses empty for two years to get free money.”
He also welcomed the announcement of a new Derelict Property Tax, but called for it to be implemented sooner than 2027 when it is planned, and called for a centralised national registration system managed by Revenue.
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"Using financial carrots and sticks will never be enough to fully denormalise vacancy and dereliction. Affluent owners (whether it’s the state, companies or individuals) will always be able to pay or offset taxes in order to hoard their wealth assets.
He also proposed the introduction of Compulsory Sales Orders, a measure used in Scotland and England and Compulsory Rental Orders as used in Amsterdam and Barcelona, and a state construction company to give Local Authorities direct access to a skilled labour force to renovate the thousands of empty council homes.
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