'Effective deterrents' needed to crack down on dereliction, say Cork campaigners 

In a report published at the end of last year, figures from the latest census, GeoDirectory, and Fáilte Ireland were cited, showing that in Ireland there are 163,433 empty homes, as well as 66,956 holiday homes, 20,413 derelict homes, and 30,246 commercial buildings that could be homes.

Further figures show there are as many as 290,000 hidden homeless, according to a report by the Simon Community based on a RedC poll where 26% of those surveyed nationally said they knew of someone staying temporarily with another household because they do not have a regular address of own, or had done this themselves in the last 12 months.

Their report also highlighted that there are 2,800 people sleeping rough, 14,760 in emergency accommodation, 522,486 adults aged 18 years and over who were living with their parents, 30,000 in direct provision, and 5,000 in prison.

The report explains: “The situation has been continually worsened through regular tax breaks for landlords, yet tenant rights are inadequate, remaining below European best practice, while we have the added complication of the high number of landlords sitting in the Dáil in recent governments.”

Frank O’Connor and Jude Sherry said that grants and other financial incentives “reward the vacant and derelict property hoarders”, and that local authorities “struggle to enforce taxes and levies”.

They called for an exemption that allows properties that have been vacant for two years to be exempt from RPZ [rent pressure zone] caps to be removed, saying that this is being exploited.

They explained: “After the two-year period landlords can then access the €50,000 vacant homes grant and a €10,000 tax exemption for reletting costs.

“They can then put the home back into the private rental market at much higher rents than allowed under RPZ rent caps.”

Their report also points out that Ireland has the highest office vacancy rates in Europe, yet rents for offices in Cork city have only slightly declined from €350psm in 2020 to €325psm in 2024, saying: “The reality is hoarding is rewarded.”

The report debates the idea that vacant and derelict properties are only located in rural areas where no one wants to live, saying: “Although vacancy rates are high in rural areas, the reality is, it’s our urban cores that have extremely high levels of vacancy.

“It is only our suburban areas that can have vacancy rates below 2.5%.”

There also is “a persistent myth” that vacant and derelict buildings are not viable to renovate and bring back into use, O’Connor and Sherry say, explaining that the word ‘viability’ more often only refers to financial viability, meaning the ability to recoup all costs if the renovated property was sold.

'Effective deterrents' needed 

The report calls for “effective deterrents and penalties” as opposed to more incentives, saying: “Socialising the costs while privatising the profits is not a sustainable or just solution to vacancy and dereliction.

“Throwing more taxpayers’ money at property owners who have hoarded vacant and derelict properties and are unwilling to reuse these homes unless they can get free money through grants or tax cuts does not represent good value for money.

“It is not the Government’s role to remove the financial risk for private investors, as there is no constitutional right to private profit.

“It is the Government’s role to ensure everyone can have a secure and affordable home, something that hoarders of vacancy and dereliction are currently blocking.”

They have called for a focus on compiling more accurate data, proposing a completely new registration system for all residents and all properties, which should be managed by Revenue.

Vancouver’s vacant home tax of 5% has brought 12,000 homes back into use, reduced vacancy rates by 36% and increased private rentals by 20%, while raising CA$231m (€153.4m) in taxes over three years, they said, proposing a similar tax here.

However, they said that taxes alone are not sufficient for tackling vacancy and dereliction, as the wealthy can afford to pay them but keep the property vacant, and called for enforcement of a variety of compulsory orders that force owners to use their buildings or to sell them to the State or to others.

The campaigners also propose when a building is empty for longer than one year, citizens should be allowed to inform the State that they have occupied the home and enforced a citizen-compulsory rental order directly, suggesting: “Evicting squatters should only happen where the owner can prove they have concrete plans to use the building straight away.”

Sherry and O’Connor also address how to up supply, saying: “Whether it’s a new state construction company or LA’s [local authorities] directly hiring construction workers, it’s clear the State needs to get directly involved in building homes.

“Much of what precious labour there is is being wasted to construct offices that will just lie empty and hotels that are soon converted to emergency accommodation.”

They propose addressing the shortage of construction labour through a moratorium on commercial construction so that limited labour resources can be diverted to new home construction and renovating vacant and derelict properties for residential use.

Their report also calls for demolition to only be allowed where buildings are structurally unsound.

They claimed: “Numerous properties in Cork city became derelict after they were refused planning to be demolished. 

“Roofs, slates, and wood joists are known to be removed on purpose to speed up decay. Demolition is then promoted as an easy solution for derelict buildings.

“There are recent examples, Cork city has lost important heritage buildings in ACAs [architectural conservation areas] under promises of homes, but the developer delivered a long-term vacant site instead.”

DIY training for people who wish to bring their own property back into use, and prosecuting owners of buildings at risk of collapse for endangering the public would also help those who need and penalise those hoping to profit from the system, they suggested.

They also called for an end to “flipping land” by buying a site, applying for permission with no intention of developing anything, then selling the site with the permission for an increased , stating: “35% of derelict buildings and sites with planning had obtained the same permission repeatedly without delivering on the plans.

“This repeated planning process should be stopped.”

The report concludes: “Vacancy and dereliction do not have to define Ireland. In fact, they provide a wonderful opportunity to provide more homes, sustainably.

“The practical solutions outlined here are based on international best practice and are a framework for the new Government to turn the scandalous wasted potential of vacancy and dereliction into homes, places to build community and create.”