Council borrows €2.1m to tackle derelict properties

Mayo County Council is to borrow €2.1 million to tackle derelict properties in the county. 

Councillors gave the green light to the proposal at the February meeting of the authority, with Cllr Harry Barrett saying he welcomed any provision to provide housing by tackling property dereliction.

“There are 169 adults in homeless accommodation tonight in this county, 62 of whom are children. I think that is a new record. Notice to quit figures are also increasing quarter on quarter," he remarked.

Cllr Damian Ryan also supported the proposal, saying: “We need to send out the message we are serious about derelict sites, and we may even need to approve more for the various municipal districts.”

Cllr Ryan also suggested the council should have the ability to take back property from owners who do not carry out improvements on derelict sites within two years.

Chief executive Kevin Kelly said the funding will also be used to acquire derelict sites for the purpose of bringing them back into market - “as opposed to use for social housing".

Cllr Peter Flynn said Carlow County Council, which is "40% the size of Mayo, rescued 32 derelict homes from dereliction".

"[They] turned them into vital homes, so it is possible and we need to be much more ambitious. If we do it in a smart manner, we can rescue properties in distress and with title issues and turn them around either for commercial or private rental.” 

Cllr Donna Sheridan welcomed the €2.1m fund, noting that 14.1%  of properties in Mayo were registered as derelict in the recent Geodirectory survey. 

"This is hugely concerning, we see some progress but not with enough speed.” 

Cllr Blackie Gavin said infrastructure for housing is badly needed in every town and village and “if we are serious, it is action we want”. He said the council has been talking about the derelict housing estate on the Ballinrobe Road in Castlebar “for at least the last ten years and nothing has been done”. Cllr Gavin also claimed the Director of Housing (Tom Gilligan) “never walks the town with the local councillors to say what he is doing” and that certain councillors are told information and not others.

Mr Gilligan advised that all members are sent updated lists of housing statistics on a monthly basis and that a huge amount of work is being done on housing and homelessness, with staff in the housing section "extremely busy all of the time".

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.