Tipperary County Council issues legal letters to derelict site owners across county

Tipperary County Council has issued legal letters to the owners of 84 derelict properties and plans to issue levies over the next three months on those who fail to remove them from dereliction. 

That’s what Shane Grogan, the Council’s Town Regeneration Officer, reported to councillors in a presentation on the Council’s efforts to tackle building vacancy and dereliction in the county at their recent monthly meeting in Nenagh.

He outlined that legal letters have been issued to the owners of 84 sites on the county’s Derelict Sites Register reminding them of their legal obligations under the Derelict Sites Act to carry out works to remove their properties from dereliction.

Four properties are to be removed from the register as improvements carried out on them mean their owners are now in compliance with that legal obligation.

Mr Grogan reported the Council is actively engaging with the remaining property owners and inspections of their properties are under way with Derelict Site Levy letters to be issued in the second quarter of this year.

He pointed out the Council will be following up cases where property owners fail to carry out works to remove their property from dereliction and warned that prosecutions can result in the imposition of a a prison sentence and/or fine.

Mr Grogan said the Council is also engaging with property owners at risk of being added to the Derelict Sites Register.

The Council has set goals this year of identifying two derelict sites per municipal district and delivering social/affordable housing on them and transforming one derelict site per district into housing for vulnerable groups.

It’s also aiming to bring two derelict sites in each of the main towns back into use.