COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 14, 2019

QUESTION NO. 8

QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

To ask the Chief Executive to please outline the procedure whereby the Council can "take over" a house that is so neglected that it is a hazard in an area e.g. subject to anti-social behaviour and where neighbours have real grounds that it could be a fire hazard and to include in the report the number of such houses (a) considered (b) taken over by the Council in 2018.

REPLY:

In accordance with the National Vacant Housing Re-use Strategy 2018-2021, each local authority was required to identify the scale of vacant homes and develop plans to address vacancy within their administrative area, by categorising those homes by location, ownership and reason for vacancy and subsequently to identify those properties that have the potential to be refurbished and made available for use.

The Council’s Vacant Homes Officer acts as central advisory point for property owners in terms of providing advice, assistance and information on these schemes which are available to bring properties back to use.

There are several initiatives in place with the aim of encouraging and enabling privately owned vacant homes to be brought back into use whether to the social housing or private rented market including:

The aim in the first instance would be to encourage property owners to engage with the Council and find solutions for the vacant home units. However, Local Authorities do have a range of legislative powers available to deal with under- utilised and derelict properties for example through the Compulsory Purchase Powers and Derelict Sites Legislation.

The Council has power under Section 14 of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 which provides specifically that a local authority may acquire by agreement or compulsorily, any derelict site situated within their functional area.   In accordance with Section 20 of the Act the Council may use any derelict site acquired by them for any purpose connected with their functions.  It should be noted however that persons with an interest in such acquired property may apply to the Council not less than 12 months after the making an order to acquire the property, for compensation.

Vacant properties can be reported via http://vacanthome.ie