Leitrim councillors call for vacant homes to be brought into use

Cllr Des Guckian asked that "the empty and seemingly deserted Council-owned houses in Council estates be closely examined to see if they can be brought back into use as residences."

He said this would improve the problem of shortages of houses in each and that central government funds should be sought for this purpose. 

Cllr Guckian was speaking at the latest Carrick-on-Shannon municipal district meeting. 

He said that in his "travels around our council estates, I have noted that there are anywhere between three and six houses, in each estate, that are empty, run-down and seemingly deserted."

He said that he believed the total figure came to around to 30 to 40 houses "that could be renovated, modernised and brought back into use by the council" and added they would "make a big contribution to solving the large housing crisis here in the Carrick Electoral Area."

Cllr Enda Stenson agreed that all houses available should "immediately be brought back into use as houses are scarce" and said he supported the motion. 

Cllr Sean McGowan also supported the motion and said there are schemes available to bring derelict houses "back into play."

Cllr Thomas Mulligan added that in his view, very little progress was being made with the "small number of people living in estates who do nothing with regards to the appearance of their dwelling" saying it leads to a general deterioration to the appearance of the estate. He said he believed something needed to be done at "department level; some system to enforce people to maintain their dwelling". 

He added that there is "tipping taking place in front of some of these houses; it's shocking we can't do something about it."

Cllr Paddy Farrell asked if there was much uptake of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.

Justin Fannon of Leitrim County Council said there were just 24 vacant houses throughout the whole county, around 2%. 

He said in the Carrick MD, there are ten council-owned houses on the vacant homes register and four in the Ballinamore area and ten in the Manorhamilton area. 

He said the turnaround time is about 24 weeks and "we are taking the opportunity to future-proof homes and do substantial upgrades on them and bring the homes to a very high energy rating."

Cllr Guckian said "You can't force people to take care of the houses but you can create a culture of cooperation and public pride and give small grants to the residents."

He said that ten vacant houses in Carrick was an "amazingly small figure" and said he believed a new survey needed to be carried out and that it "would be at least twice that and more; I saw far more than ten."