MOST OF IRELAND’S local authorities did not collect any money from the owners of derelict sites last year despite the growing housing crisis, while many authorities didn’t even impose the levy on a single site in their jurisdiction.

Out of 31 local authorities, 18 received €0 from landowners while 14 of these local authorities didn’t impose a levy on any of the owners of the 314 derelict sites in their jurisdictions.

The data from the Department of Housing was released to Social Democrats TD for Dublin Bay North Cian O’Callaghan and showed that only €969,886 was collected by local authorities last year despite €5,638,551 being levied.

A further €16,911,962 in levies, most of which is from before 2022, remains unpaid.

Each local authority keeps a Derelict Sites Register which includes the sites subject to the annual levy of 7% of its market value for being in a “ruinous, derelict, dangerous or neglected condition”.

This levy continues to apply until the site is no longer deemed derelict while unpaid levies attract interest of 1.25% per month.

Galway City, Tipperary and Wicklow levied between €8,000 and €37,000 respectively last year but received nothing, while Meath didn’t collect any of the €216,000 it levied from 22 sites.

If necessary, local authorities can take the landowner to court to recover this amount or compulsorily purchase the site from its owner.

Money owed to local authorities under the levy becomes a charge on the land until it’s paid.

The authorities that didn’t levy any money against landowners of derelict sites are Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Fingal, Galway County, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Longford, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, South Dublin and Waterford City & County.

There was an average of 22 derelict sites in each authority area that didn’t impose a levy, while a total of seven derelict sites were compulsorily acquired across all 14 local authorities.

Reacting to the figures, O’Callaghan said that it was unacceptable that local authorities were deciding not to implement the levy when the latest data shows that there are 12,441 people in emergency accommodation.

“It’s clear that there is little to no enforcement for noncompliance. This is allowing property speculators to sit on empty buildings and let them fall apart,” he said.

“Dereliction is a blight on our communities and represents a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of people who cannot find a place of their own. Local authorities have the power to use compulsory purchase orders to bring these empty buildings back into use but this is very rarely put into practice.”

“The Minister for Housing should be taking immediate action to both ensure the Derelict Sites Levy is being collected as well as issuing clear direction and funding for local authorities to use the compulsory purchase orders to unlock the potential of these homes.”

Response from councils

Of the council areas that didn’t impose a levy at all, Clare had the most derelict sites with 41.

A spokesperson for Clare County Council told The Journal that the council has had over 230 files on derelict sites in the past years and that almost 100 of these have been closed “which represents continued activity by property owners and Clare County Council”.

“It is the intention of Clare County Council to commence billing of the Derelict Sites Levy in cases where there are no other measures being taken by the property owners.”

“There are some cases where it is more appropriate and effective to commence compulsory acquisition of the property and while this is in progress, the levy may not be billed on those properties.”

Only three of the 41 derelict sites were compulsorily acquired by Clare County Council last year.

South Dublin County Council removed one derelict site from its register in 2022 and did not impose a levy on the remaining 11 sites.

A spokesperson for the council said:

“All debts, including Derelict Sites Levies, are pursued in line with the Council’s debt management policies. Where cases become protracted, there will be delays in collecting sums due.”

Other councils that did not impose the Derelict Sites Levy in 2022 were also contacted.

Some local authorities took a more proactive approach to combating dereliction than others.

Limerick City and County Council and Mayo County Council had roughly the same amount of properties on their derelict sites register at the beginning of 2022 (288 and 281 respectively).

By the end of the year Limerick Council issued 10 times as many Compulsory Purchase Orders (41 to Mayo’s four) and collected five times as much money as Mayo County Council.

When asked about the significant lack of enforcement of the Derelict Sites Act from some local authorities, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing stated:

“It is a matter for local authorities to determine the most appropriate use of the legislation within their respective functional areas.”

“The Department continues to liaise with local authorities on the enforcement and implementation of the Derelict Sites Act, as well as on the collection of levies due, with a view to improving its effectiveness in delivering on its objectives.”

“In this regard the Department has initiated a review of the Act to examine potential improvements to the legislative provisions and the way they are applied.”