Over 500 vacant and derelict properties identified in Laois towns

There are over 500 vacant and derelict buildings in Laois towns, and some may be forcibly bought up by Laois County Council.

The first ever detailed survey across the county has been carried out by the Council's Regeneration Team.

They surveyed 865 vacant properties in towns and villages around the county, or within a 1km radius of them.

Of those, 518 were confirmed as vacant, with 32 of them found to be derelict.

Laois County Council CEO John Mulholland welcomed the figures as knowledge that can now be acted on, speaking at the October meeting.

"This gives us a good appreciation of what to do next. To talk to and to try identify owners. They will either be encouraged to apply for the Croí Conaithe vacant homes grants, or we may negotiate an agreement to purchase or do a Compulsory Purchase Order.

"There is a possibility of quite a number of them coming forward as social or private homes to rent. So our team will be working in parallel with our Social and Affordable housing programmes," Mr Mulholland said.

He gave an update on how many vacant homes are being refurbished in Laois by the Croi Conaithe vacant property refurbishment grants.  The grants give up to €50,000 to owners of vacant houses to bring them back to use, either for rent or to live in. This includes properties that were not used as residences before such as old schools or shops. A top up of €20,000 is available for houses proven derelict. 

Just one grant is paid out so far in Laois. 

Since it was introduced over a year ago, the council has received an even 100 applications. There were approvals for 43, another 19 are approved in principal, 31 are under consideration, three were refused and four withdrawn by the applicant. 

The council says that 54 of the properties are in rural locations, and 46 in a town or village. 89 are to be lived in as a principal private residence, and 11 are to be made available to rent. 30 of the properties had been identified in the GeoDirectory Survey.

"To date, the approved works have been completed on seven properties and one grant has been paid to the applicant," the council reported in October. 

Tiny number of Laois homes for rent with social housing support recipients locked out

The council's recently established Regeneration Team includes staff from its housing and planning sections and a Town Regeneration Officer, aimed at addressing vacancy and dereliction in Laois. 

They did a detailed survey of both residential and commercial properties that were identified as being vacant in national data supplied by GeoDirectory, a Department of Housing initiative.

The public can enquire about vacant properties by emailing vacanthomes@laoiscoco.ie