Housing Committee to hear that just over a quarter of approved vacant property grants are issued

The society of chartered surveyors in Ireland has said 'more could be done' to encourage people to apply for government-subsidised schemes aimed at renovating vacant properties. File picture: Denis Minihane

Applicants who fail to secure a vacant property grant are being urged to come forward anonymously in a bid to understand how best to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use.

The society of chartered surveyors in Ireland has said “more could be done” to encourage people to apply for government-subsidised schemes aimed at renovating vacant properties.

Surveyor Nick Taaffe, representing the SCSI, will tell the Housing Committee on Tuesday that although 10,000 out of every 14,000 applications for the State’s vacant property refurbishment grants are approved, just 2,800 grants are actually issued.

“SCSI is interested and available to analyse anonymised grant applications,” Mr Taaffe is expected to tell the committee, in order ”to better understand” why the success levels for those grant applications are so low.

He will argue that, despite the regulatory and financial pitfalls of working with older or derelict properties, the “benefits of prioritising renovations are clear”.

“Renovating existing stock is more sustainable, supports our climate action goals, and can revitalise town centres, making use of existing infrastructure and amenities,” Mr Taaffe will say.

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Separately, derelict housing campaigner Dr Frank O’Connor is set to tell the committee that dereliction amounts to “a social crime”. The committee will also hear from Department of Housing officials together with representatives from local authorities.

Mr O’Connor, an experienced campaigner and co-founder of dereliction advocacy body Anois, will tell the committee that although dereliction is now part of the Irish public’s lexicon there is “still a long way to go to end the blight of dereliction in our villages, towns and cities”.

The next step to reduce dereliction is the enforcement of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, according to Mr O'Connor. in order for the national registry to officially recognise the multitude of empty buildings in Ireland currently not included in official figures.