Vacant and derelict properties across County Galway are a “growing problem” with “thousands of potential homes” falling further into disrepair in the middle of a housing crisis.
This is the view of Sinn Féin Galway East representative, Louis O’Hara. He was speaking following the Galway County Council agreeing to issue notices to owners of a number of properties in Athenry town centre.
The issuing of notices followed representations by Mr O’Hara. The notices will require the owners to carry out necessary works needed to clean-up these sites.
However Mr O’Hara [pictured below] said more needs to be done, and he called for the introduction of a vacant property tax - covering both derelict homes and commercial property - to incentivise property owners to sell or rent, by making it financially unviable to leave property vacant and derelict.
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He said the county council needed to put “a greater focus” on identifying derelict sites and collecting levies.
“This must be accompanied by dedicated vacant homes officers, increased capital funding for local authorities for purchase and refurbishment costs, and a reform of the Compulsory Purchase Order legislation to reduce the time and cost of CPO’ing vacant properties,” he said.
Mr O’Hara said it was “frustrating” that in a housing crisis “we are surrounded by homes that are empty and falling apart”. He said taking action on this issue will improve the appearance of towns and villages, attract new business into town centres, and increase the supply of housing.
