COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 08, 2019

QUESTION NO. 3

QUESTION: Councillor Carly Bailey

To ask the Chief Executive the number of vacant homes that have subsequently been acquired through purchase and through the CPO process as a result of the work of the vacant homes officer.

And for the Chief Executive to make a statement on the matter. 

REPLY:

South Dublin County has the lowest vacancy rate in the Country at 3.6% according to the Central Statistics Office (2016).

Under the National Vacant Housing Re-use Strategy, each local authority was required to identify the scale of vacant homes and develop plans to address vacancy within their administrative area, by categorising vacant 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. 

There are currently 59 vacant units identified within the County.

To date, six homes have been acquired by the Council under the Derelict Sites Legislation and brought back into social housing stock.

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 these include:

The primary objective is to encourage property owners to engage with the Council and find solutions for the vacant home units without having to resort to the an acquisition , process. However the Council has a range of legislative powers available to deal with under-utilised and derelict properties including through Compulsory Purchase and Derelict Sites legislation where necessary.

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