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BOARDED-UP HOUSES and crumbling buildings are a common feature of towns and cities across Ireland.
Derelict buildings contribute significantly to Ireland’s housing crisis, and bringing them back into use is one of the government’s strategies for addressing social housing shortfalls and getting more homes on the market.
Last month, the compulsory purchase order (CPO) process was used via An Coimisiún Pleanála for seven properties – an increase on the single application made by a council in both December and January.
Under laws introduced in 1990, every local council keeps a Derelict Sites Register to encourage owners to bring vacant houses and land into use through the imposition of an annual levy of 7% of the property’s market value, which applies until the site is no longer derelict.
When someone objects to a local authority’s attempt to obtain a property via the CPO process, the council can apply to An Coimisiún Pleanála to do so.
The Housing Act also allows local authorities to acquire vacant homes via CPO, which they must also apply to do via the commission.
The process is similar to making a planning application, and the board weighs up submissions from the council and the owner of the land before deciding whether a site can be subject to a CPO.
The number of properties that councils try to CPO via the commission every month is relatively small.
It is worth noting, however, that Ireland’s councils successfully CPO other properties without having to go to the commission, which helps bring derelict properties back into use.
The Journal has been keeping track of the vacant and derelict properties that councils have sought to acquire via the commission in recent months.
There are usually multiple applications to the board to acquire housing in most months, but January has now joined December as the first months in The Journal’s series where an application was made to CPO just one property.
This list shows the total number of applications made to An Coimisiún Pleanála by councils to CPO derelict properties since our series began in 2025:
In total, two councils applied to the commission in February to CPO seven properties between them. Here they are:
On 3 February, Roscommon County Council submitted an application to CPO a derelict site known as “Hilltop House” on Greenfield Road in Knockroe in Castlerea.
The local authority’s derelict sites register says the property was first declared derelict in April 2021, and the house sits on land of about 0.0743 hectares.
There is not much more publicly available information about who owns the property, but an old notice on the property website MyHome.ie indicates it went on the market for around €55,000 in 2013.
On 17 February, Limerick City and County Council applied to the commission to CPO derelict cottage and land at Abbey View in the town of Askeaton.
According to the council’s derelict sites register, the house has been declared derelict since 2021 and is valued as being worth €10,000.
The council previously sought to CPO the site in 2022, with a report published about it by the commission from the time showing an apparent dispute over the ownership of the property.
However, it is not clear why the property has come up for CPO again.
The case is due to be decided by 16 July.
Limerick City and County Council also applied to CPO two properties in Ballinain Ballinamuddagh near Ardagh on 17 February.
Both are detached two-storey properties that were placed on the derelict sites register in August 2024, and are valued at €170,000 and €180,000 respectively.
Little other information is available about the sites, and both cases are due to be decided by 16 July.
On the same date, Limerick’s local authority also applied to CPO a derelict bungalow and surrounding lands at Ballyorgan.
The council’s derelict sites register states that the property was found derelict in June 2022 and is valued at €30,000.
The case is also due to be decided by 16 July.
In another application made on 17 February, Limerick’s local authority sought to CPO a derelict bungalow in the village of Glin.
The cottage was placed on the derelict sites register in October 2024, and is valued at €25,000.
A MyHome property listing shows it was sold as recently as 2018 with a guide price the same as the council’s valuation, though it was advertised as a “refurbishment project”.
The case is due to be decided by 16 July.
And in yet another application, this time made on 19 February, Limerick City and County Council sought to CPO a two-storey mid-terrace house and surrounding land in Kilfinane.
The property was placed on the derelict sites register in February 2022 and is valued at €60,000.
There is little other information available about the property, and the case is due to be decided by 16 July.
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