New derelict buildings website lists 2,700 residential properties countrywide

A new website details more than 2,700 derelict properties around the State, with a value of more than €500 million if developed for housing.

Software engineer Michael Gannon created the website derelictproperties.ie by pulling together derelict sites from local authority registers.

The Government is in the process of introducing new legislation through the Finance Act, giving the Revenue Commissioners powers to collect the derelict site tax.

From January, local authorities will have a legal obligation to keep a derelict sites list and to forward it to Revenue, which will take over collection of the annual 7 per cent derelict sites levy from local authorities. Derelict site owners will be given until the middle of 2028 to pay outstanding levies.

Gannon said he established the website before the Government announcement in the budget.

His motivation was to highlight the scale of the problem and to show that some local authorities have made no effort to highlight or market properties they deem derelict.

[ First payments under new derelict property tax not due until June 2028Opens in new window ]

The website underlines the reasons for consistency and a centralised register of derelict properties in the State that interested parties can access. The documentation of derelict properties by local authorities is “fragmented and a mess”, he said.

“Local authorities should have to upload the same documentation in the same format.”

He estimates that these properties could be converted into homes worth €505 million based on a valuation between €365,000 and €510,000. The higher valuations reflect the fact that most of these buildings are in big cities where property prices are highest.

Owners of these properties owe €49.5 million in derelict sites levies, he estimates, and 64 owners owe more than the property is worth.

His figures are based on the 7 per cent annual levy based on the valuation of the site. It also includes a 1.25 per cent per month interest payment on money already owed.

The amount owed by owners of these properties is not disclosed by local authorities.

Gannon hopes the site will alert potential buyers to derelict properties and also to the various grant schemes now in place to bring such properties back as housing.

There is a vacant property refurbishment grant where a property owner can claim up to €70,000 to bring a single vacant property back into use. It has extended the scheme to allow investors to receive up to €135,000 if they convert above-the-shop premises into housing.

He estimates that 62 per cent of the properties on local authority derelict lists could qualify for a grant.

“Savvy buyers and property investors are increasingly looking beyond standard estate agents’ windows and turning directly to official local authority records,” he said.

“By tracking council-registered vacant sites and abandoned houses, Ireland offers a realistic route to acquiring real estate far below typical market valuations.”

The Government intends to publish a national register of derelict properties next year before collection of the derelict sites tax is passed from local authorities to the Revenue.

[ ‘Fanciful’ to assume funds from new dereliction tax will reach local authorities, DCC chief saysOpens in new window ]

A national digital register of derelict sites will be published annually, including maps and standard details for each property.

Government frustration with the failure of local authorities to either list properties as derelict or to collect levies is behind the decision to task Revenue with collecting the tax.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing John Cummins recently described dereliction as a “scourge on our society”.

He told the budget briefing on housing: “There are now schemes in place to bring such properties back into use, like the repair lease scheme or the vacant property refurbishment grant, all carrots that are there for people to avail of. The message is very clear: the stick is coming with the derelict property tax. If you are the owner of such a property, you better put it to good use.”