Council identifies 400 vacant properties in Laois

Laois County Council identified 400 vacant properties in the county since the start of the year.  

The council’s Vacant Homes Team is continuing to survey properties identified as being vacant in data supplied by GeoDirectory, via a Dept of Housing 2022 initiative. 

“The app has shown the following data so far - of the 698 properties surveyed to date, 400 properties were found to be vacant, with 23 of those found to be derelict,” the council revealed in its monthly report at the July council meeting. 

Council Chief Executive John Mulholland said the buildings were identified both in urban and rural areas. 

“Within that 400 there are some new buildings,” he revealed. 

He said the condition of the properties ranged from good to poor and in some cases deemed to be beyond economic repair.

The next step in the process will be to try and contact the owners of the vacant residential properties and outline the schemes available for returning properties to use for housing.

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“Where ownership cannot be established, local enquiries will continue in relation to ownership, vacancy history, etc. Where all other means of returning the properties to use have been exhausted, use of the CPO(Compulsory Purchase Order) process to acquire properties deemed to be suitable for social housing will be considered,” the council report stated.