Potential fines from derelict properties could be a “golden goose” for councils around Ireland, an expert has said.

Councils around Ireland are not getting an accurate amount of derelict buildings onto their registers and therefore are not able to charge them fines.

Senior Lecturer in Housing at Technological University Dublin (TUD) Lorcan Sirr has claimed that not enough homes are being built in Ireland to manage to ongoing housing crisis but the real issue lies with the buildings we have sitting derelict.

When it comes to dereliction, derelict and vacant buildings are an increasing feature of our towns and cities.

There are between 102,000 and 164,000 vacant and derelict properties across Ireland at the moment, although there is no one source that can provide a 100% accurate number.

On Moncrieff, Mr Sirr argued that derelict buildings have a knock on effect – but not just on homelessness.

“The CSO came out in the census 22 and said there's 163,000 vacant buildings in the country and GeoDirectory and An Post came out and said, recently, there's about 81,000 empty buildings or vacant buildings in the country,” he said.

“It's not just that it's a waste of a house, dereliction and vacancy in general, you know, particularly in towns, but also in cities, it detracts from everything around the place.

“People don't want to live there, businesses don't want to open up beside vacant and derelict units and it's really hard to get councils to get up off their [backsides] to do something about it.

“A lot of councils will only put a building on the derelict sites register if somebody complains about it - they won't go out and look for themselves, even though you and I can see them under our noses every day of the week.”

Derelict house in a rural area with "For Sale" sign. Image: Stephen Barnes/Business / Alamy Stock Photo

Two architects in Cork, Dr Frank O'Connor and Jude Sherry, recently conducted a study on the number of derelict properties in Cork city centre.

“They went looking at a two kilometre radius from Cork city centre and they found 700 empty and derelict buildings - 70% of those were residential and 30% were commercial,” Mr Sirr said.

“On the derelict sites register in Cork city there is something like 132 derelict sites and buildings.

“Now, on the derelict sites register you levy fines, so it's actually, potentially, an income generator for councils.

“But they are very reluctant to actually come down hard on people leaving buildings empty or letting them go derelict.”

Derelict two storey house in countryside of County Leitrim, Ireland. Image: Alamy

Mr Sirr said that “quite often” councils don’t chase up these fines.

“A couple of years ago in Dublin City Council, which is the last year I could get figures for, they were owed €6.8 million in fines,” he said.

“It's a potential golden goose, or whatever you want to call it, if they can go out and get the fines.

“The fines, for people who are wondering, it's 7% of the market value of the building and then if it's not paid, there's 1.5% interest rate per month, I think, applied to that.

“Now the equivalent in France is if your property is vacant for more than a year for pretty much any reason, the tax on it is 17% of the annual rental value, and if you don't pay that, if you don't get the building occupied in the first 12 months, it jumps to 34%.”

Mr Sirr said there are a number of reasons these properties are allowed to fall derelict – one being that property owners are allowing the value of the houses and land to rise.

Listen back here:

Close up of an abandoned house, showing its broken windows, in Chapelizod, Dublin, Ireland. Image: Alamy