Council using CPO to buy idle houses

A pilot programme which allows Louth County Council to use a Compulsory Purchase Order to acquire vacant properties to use for social housing is proving a success in Dundalk.

Cllr John McGahon told the monthly meeting of the council that a number of houses in the area of Dundalk in which he lives had been purchased under the scheme and it was helping to rejuvenate parts of town

Chairperson Cllr Paul Bell had tabled a motion calling on the council to extend the CPO scheme already applied to Dundalk to Drogheda and other areas of the county for the purpose of securing homes to be made available to applicants on the council’s social housing list.’ He also urged the council to engage with property owners identified as having vacant houses for the purpose of securing same for renting to social housing applicants.’

He said a pilot programme had been operating in Dundalk and a number of vacant properties identified, some were in private ownership whereas others were owned by financial institutions.

He scheme had worked well to date and had provided the council with a number of properties. They were all aware of the problems which properties which are left abandoned cause in relation to anti social behaviour, especially if it’s in the middle of an estate. Most such properties are owned by financial institutions and he was aware of some in Drogheda which have been abandoned for four or five years.

Director of Service, Joe McGuinness said that the council had made an application to the Department for funding for Compulsory Purchase Orders and had been giving approval for 24 units in Dundalk and 12 in Drogheda, with the Dundalk scheme well advanced and it was intended to advance the Drogheda one.

Cllr John McGahon said he had raised the issue with Minister English. He felt that the CPO scheme was another tool which the council could use for providing housing. They had got 24 homes for people in Dundalk and three of them were with a few minutes walk from his house.

This was rejuvenating the area, taking away the threat of anti-social behaviour and were bringing people back into areas of town which they mightn’t otherwise move to.

Mr McGuinness said that the process for acquiring the properties was set down in law and the criteria was simply that the property is vacant. The process could take anything from four to 15 months,

Cllr Dolores Minogue asked if there were any plans to extend it to Ardee and Mr McGuinness aid that the intention was to extend it in Drogheda as the greatest housing need by far was in Dundalk and Drogheda.