Council ramps up Anti-Dereliction Drive

In a move to combat dereliction in our towns and villages, Cavan County Council is making significant progress in bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use.

At the heart of this drive is the Council’s Property Activation Team, a cross-disciplinary team which brings together staff from units such as Housing, Planning, Community and Enterprise, IT, and Town Regeneration, to ensure no stone is unturned in our efforts to bring more property back into use for the people of Cavan.

Recent success stories on this front include the new St Brigid’s Place Development in Cavan Town, which saw the construction of 20 new housing units on the site of eight vacant houses, one of which was acquired by compulsory purchase order.

In 2023, Cavan County Council acquired five derelict cottages in Ballyjamesduff by compulsory purchase order, and a development of 12 new social houses is now at design stage. Properties in Cootehill and Cavan Town have also recently been acquired through compulsory purchase order.

In a further example of the Council’s continued commitment to tackling dereliction and property neglect, more than 300 statutory notices have been issued under the Derelict Sites Act in the past year. Cavan County Council’s Derelict Sites Section has 938 active property files recorded on its database that are being monitored, being processed, or on which statutory notices have been served.

Additionally, Cavan County Council is actively exploring options for bringing a further 37 derelict properties in Cavan Town back into use. These properties have been pre-approved under a €3.5 million allocation from the the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) Call-3, a self-reciprocating fund aimed at reactivating vacancy and dereliction, funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage.

Cavan County Council has been proactive in working with property owners to bring properties back to use by mutual agreement, whether through encouraging and facilitating uptake of grants like the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant or through a negotiated sale to the Council. Other approaches, such as compulsory purchase, are available to the Council and are utilised where needed, however this proactive approach has resulted in significant progress to date, negating the need to pursue compulsory purchase.

Examples of this process include the former Duckin’ Stool property in Belturbet, which has been fully refurbished to provide three new apartments, six derelict cottages at Widows Row, Belturbet, which will soon be demolished to make way for the construction of nine new houses, and the former Briody’s Hardware store in Kilnaleck, where the construction of eight new apartments is due for completion mid-2026.

Cavan County Council is also close to completing the acquisition of an unfinished estate in Cootehill that will see the refurbishment of 13 unfinished houses and the construction of 31 new homes.

Cavan County Council is actively supporting property owners to bring their own properties back into use through the ‘Croí Cónaithe’ Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, with over 550 applications received to date. Of these, almost 400 are approved, and 91 applicants have completed the approved work and moved into their homes, with over €5 million in grants paid out to date.

“I am pleased to see the Council make such strong progress in combatting dereliction in our towns and villages,” commented Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr John Paul Feeley.

“There are a number of options for owners of derelict and vacant properties, with substantial grant funding available to renovate the property themselves should they choose. Where the owner opts not to pursue this option, the council’s Property Activation Team will explore all options to restore the property to use, including through the CPO process, where necessary. Only through this proactive and practical approach will we rid our streets of the blight of dereliction.”

Chief Executive of Cavan County Council, Eoin Doyle added, “I applaud the efforts of our Property Activation Team in restoring vacant and derelict properties to use, where they can serve our community as homes or commercial units. As a Council we recognise that, in the vast majority of cases, the owners of these properties would prefer to see them in use, and as such our preferred approach is to work with the owner to facilitate them in securing a grant or to negotiate a purchase of the properties. Where this is not possible, compulsory purchase can and will be utilised, though it is required in most instances”.

The Council encourage members of the public to report in dereliction in their area. Please find the link to the Derelict Sites Reporting Survey on our website at https://www.cavancoco.ie/services/planning-building/derelict-sites/