Mayo Co Council has applied to An Coimisiún Pleanála for compulsory purchase orders (CPO) in a fresh bid to tackle dereliction in the county.
Every local authority maintains 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 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.
Last month, Mayo Co Council submitted a number of CPO applications to An Coimisiún Pleanála for 29, 30, 31 and 32 Highland Park, Kilkelly.
The council listed all four properties on its derelict sites register last year. The four cases are due to be decided upon by the commission on August 6.
The council also applied to the commission on April 24 to purchase a property at 11 Hazel Court on Convent Road in Ballinrobe. It has been listed on the council’s derelict sites register since last year but no value has been place on the property. Its owners are listed as “private individuals” living in Galway. The case is also due to be ruled on by August 6.
There are more than 300 properties listed on Mayo County Council’s derelict sites register.
Between 2014 and 2024, the council completed just 19 CPOs relating to derelict sites with the latest activity signalling a change of approach by the local authority, which acquired five properties via the CPO process in 2025. They included houses at Lower Fairgreen in Westport, 3 Chapel Row in Swinford, Lisnaboley in Claremorris, 3 Tyrawley Terrace and 47 Tyrawley Terrace in Ballina.
Councillors have increasingly called on management to CPO derelict properties as part of its strategy to tackle the ongoing housing shortage.
