Levy notices on the way to owners of derelict properties in county Tipperary

The owners of 77 properties listed on Tipperary's Derelict Sites Register will receive letters over in two weeks time about the annual Derelict Sites Levy that amounts to 7% of the value of the properties.

The Council’s Town Regeneration Officer Shane Grogan informed Tipperary County Council and Carrick Municipal District’s monthly meetings of plans to issue the levy notices.

READ ALSO: President of the District Courts revokes decision to close two Tipperary courthouses

Both meetings were also informed the Council has commenced the process of compulsory purchasing two derelict properties, one in Clonmel and one in Thurles, with the goal of bringing them back into use for purposes like social housing.

Mr Grogan indicated the Council has identified a number of other properties in the county it will potentially compulsory purchase if their owners don’t take action to remove them from dereliction.

He told Carrick Municipal District councillors at their meeting last Thursday that the Council will be very pro-active in collecting the the Derelict Sites Levy. 

He told the meeting the levy notices will be issued in the next week or two but that has now been pushed back to mid-August due to staff annual leave. 

If the Levy isn’t paid within two months of the notice, 1.25% interest will accrue each subsequent month the levy isn’t paid.

He said the Council will also be following up with the owners of derelict properties on their obligations under the Derelict Sites Act to remove their properties from dereliction.

Mr Grogan stressed the Council’s aim was not to prosecute property owners where possible. It was to help them remove their properties from dereliction.

The Council’s derelict sites staff will talk with property owners about funding streams available to help them achieve this.

But he warned: “If they don’t engage with us, we have a number of measures that we will implement up to and including CPO.”

He told councillors he has been working closely with other county council teams in Cork and Limerick about how they approach tackling derelict sites and deciding when to go down the route of compulsory purchasing properties.

Mr Grogan signalled a “more robust approach” to derelict sites will be adopted by the Council in the final half of the year once they have filled a Derelict Sites officer vacancy.

Derelict sites staff will be working with council officials in the municipal districts to bring these sites back into use.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Kieran Bourke asked at the meeting if the Council planned to compulsory purchase any derelict sites in Carrick-on-Suir and how did the Council fund the compulsory purchase of derelict properties?

Mr Grogan responded that the Council was looking at the situation town by town and will get to Carrick-on-Suir. The Council had to look at the potential end use of a building when considering whether to compulsory purchase a property.

In relation to funding, he explained the only dedicated funding from central government was under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund that was available only for properties in Clonmel, Thurles and Nenagh in this county.

The compulsory purchase of any derelict properties outside these three towns would be funded on a case by case basis by the Council.

Where the County Council identified that purchasing a derelict site was for the public good, it would fund the purchase from its own resources and then seek a funding stream to assist with the cost of the purchase, Mr Grogan added.

READ NEXT: Councillors urge Tipperary Council to stop using glyphosate weed killer over health risks