Cork council to intensify compulsory purchase of derelict properties
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Cork County Council is to up the ante on the owners of derelict properties in the county by ratcheting up Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOS) after it identified 2,810 vacant buildings in the region.
A senior council official has revealed there is a major problem with ‘vulture funds’ acquiring some of them and they won’t engage with the council.
The council has primarily concentrated first on identifying vacant properties in towns but will start shifting the emphasis to villages as well.
It is expected that many more will be added to the list being compiled by staff in the council’s Town Regeneration Office.
Councillors have not been happy with the level of CPOs previously sought by the council. Last year it took over just five properties through CPOs — three in Bandon and one each in Youghal and Ringskiddy.
A further five CPOs are currently in train in Fermoy, Kanturk, Bandon, Carrigaline, and Ringaskiddy.
Michael Lynch, who is in charge of the council’s project, said there are currently 108 properties on the Derelict Sites Register for County Cork with additional properties to be added by year end.
This represents an increase of 52% from the end of last year at which time there were 71 properties listed on the register.
He provided these and other details about vacant properties at the request of Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath.
Fine Gael councillor John Paul O’Shea said the council has to get tough as acquiring just five properties by CPO in a county the size of Cork is far too few.
He said that no progress had been made on a number of buildings in Mallow and the council must look now at issuing CPOs to get them back in use.
Council officials have previously adopted a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to getting owners to do up their properties, when they can identify them.
Fianna Fáil councillor and barrister Gearoid Murphy said it is time for “more stick” with increased use of CPOs, although he acknowledged they are time-consuming.
Mid-Cork based Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Looney said the council can’t identify the owners of many derelict properties in his area and therefore it must CPO them now.
Mr McGrath said several properties have remained vacant in towns around the county for more than 20 years and this level of dereliction cannot continue especially in the middle of a housing crisis:
“CPOs are necessary where there's no response (from the owner),” he added.
However, he acknowledged that the work undertaken by the council in identifying vacant properties puts it in a better position to get them reoccupied.
Mr Lynch said the council now has a “suite of measures available” to get properties back into use and promised there will be a ratcheting up of CPOs where they are getting no positive response from identified owners.
Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Mulcahy said he’s aware of ‘vulture funds’ picking up such properties.
Mr Lynch acknowledged that’s factual, and they’ve become “an issue” as they either can’t be contacted or won’t engage with the council.
Mayor of County Cork Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said another problem is that some owners who previously agreed to do up their properties can no longer afford this because significant construction inflation has put it beyond their means.