With the highest number of vacant commercial properties in the country, Cllr Declan Bree stated it is clear that Sligo town is losing out in terms of it’s potential.
t Monday’s (January 23) meeting of the Sligo Borough District, Cllr Declan Bree called on the council to provide a report indicating their strategy to encourage property owners to develop ‘over the shop’ vacant property for residential use and to encourage property owners to refurbish derelict and vacant houses in Sligo town centre.
Cllr Bree stated that considering the objectives in the Sligo and Environs Development Plan relating to urban regeneration that is obvious Sligo town centre is not developing in the way the public would have expected.
He stated that due to delays in drafting a new Local Area Plan due to the abolition of the Borough Council in 2014, that Sligo is being left behind and has not even been included in the Government’s Town Centre First policy which aims to combat vacancy and dereliction in towns around the country.
“We all know that Sligo has the highest number of vacant commercial properties in the country and we are also aware that there are a significant number of houses in the town centre which have been lying vacant for years,” Cllr Bree said.
“The recent decision of the council to introduce a long term vacant property incentive scheme will I believe help reduce the negative visual impact of empty commercial properties in Sligo and in conjunction with the Public Realm projects will hopefully help generate and support new business outlets to attract increased footfall and benefit the town.
“With regard to housing, I understand that the planning department has carried out inspections and identified the hundreds of vacant houses in the town.
“The Planning Department has also identified quite a number of the owners of those properties. However, I have to say that I am very disappointed at the slow pace of progress in bringing those houses back into use.
“We certainly need to look at the reasons why more properties in the town centre are not being used for residential purposes and we need a strategy or plan to encourage and assist people to move back into the town centre.”
The Town Centre first policy was launched by the Government last February and aims to breathe new life into town centres; however, although additional resources were allocated to a number of towns throughout the country, Cllr Bree stated Sligo did not receive any assistance.
“While Sligo has been designated as a Regional Growth Centre it must be pointed out that town centre issues affect all towns and cities, both large and small,” Cllr Bree said.
“Walk down any one of our shopping streets and take a look up. There are empty spaces everywhere, which with a little imagination could be transformed into residential accommodation.
“These spaces were once homes to shopkeepers and their families and they are crying out for restoration. Transforming them back into accommodation would certainly help to address our housing crisis.”
Cllr Bree said he understands that the cost of renovation and the repair of these properties can be extremely high and in some cases more expensive and purchasing an equivalent property outside of the town, for this reason he said it is important local and central Government come together to tackle these issues.
“The small size of many town centre houses can create challenges for modern living particularly taking into consideration modern statutory compliance requirements,” he said.
“Add to that the fact that many houses have very small gardens or lack of access to the rear in addition to lack of parking and one can appreciate why many town centre properties are vacant.
“Given the complexity and variety of reasons behind vacancy in town centres there is clearly a need for local and central government jointly, to devise modern strategies to overcome the problem.”
The response from Director of Services Dorothy Clarke stated that the Government’s ‘Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness’ aims to develop an overall national vacant housing reuse strategy.
In support of the strategy a number of initiatives have been introduced to assist property owners bringing vacant properties into residential use. These include planning exemptions, the Expanded Repair & Lease Scheme, the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund, the Living City Initiative, and increased resources to Local Authorities.
Cllr Bree stated that while he is aware new regulations may take some time to ‘bear fruit’ it is vital the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien investigates regulations that may be in need of revision.
Cllr Sinead Maguire stated that many Sligo residents are looking at vacant properties and asking, ‘why they are not being put to use in the midst of a housing crisis?’
“It’s clear the Government is taking steps and providing the means to bring properties back to use, unfortunately it is not so straightforward,” she said.
“The regulations are there to ensure everyone’s safety.”
Cllr Tom MacSharry highlighted the current labour material costs as a blockade to bringing vacant properties back into use.
“Anyone who has spoken to a builder knows that there is a perfect storm against us,” he said.
“There’s inflation, the war in Ukraine, supply and demand issues.”
Cllr MacSharry highlighted fire regulations and insurance as a barrier to using ‘over the shop’ vacant properties as residential homes.
“The will of the Government is there and there are funding streams available,” he said.
“When I was growing up a lot of families lived in Sligo town and city living is a massive concept throughout Europe.”
Cllr MacSharry stated it is incumbent for all councillors to push for answers as to why Sligo was not included in the Town Centre First policy.
The latest GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report published last August showed the commercial vacancy rate in Sligo was 19.4% in June 2022.
This represents a decrease of 0.6 percentage points (pp) compared to June 2021.
The highest commercial vacancy rates in June 2022 were found in the west and north-west of Ireland, continuing a trend observed in previous GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Reports. At 19.4%, Sligo was the county with the highest commercial vacancy rate, followed by Galway and Donegal (both at 17.2%), and Leitrim and Mayo (both 16.9%).
Of the towns in Sligo analysed, Sligo had the highest commercial vacancy rate at 24.1%, while Tubbercurry had the lowest at 21.7%.
In reply to Cllr Bree’s motion, Sligo County Council pointed to a number of schemes up and running to deal with dereliction:
The Government has committed in Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness to develop an overall national vacant housing re-use strategy. In support of the implementation of this strategy, a number of grants and initiatives have been introduced to assist property owners in bringing back vacant properties into residential use:
Planning Exemption:
The Planning and Development (Amendment)(No.2) Regulations 2018 were introduced to provide an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain commercial properties to residential use. To avail of the exemption, the structure, or part of the structure requires to have been vacant for at least two years immediately prior to the commencement of the works required to adapt the premises.
Understandably, the requirement to comply with the building regulations code is not exempted under these Regulations.
The upgrading works required to satisfy current building and fire regulations have regularly been identified as a significant impediment to the conversion of the upper floors of properties into residential use.
Expanded Repair & Lease Scheme: Where property owners can meet the Building Regulations, they may be able to avail of the Expanded Repair & Lease Scheme which was launched in June 2022 and has now been extended until 17th June 2023.
This expanded scheme now includes vacant units associated with a commercial property (e.g. over a shop) as well as vacant commercial properties, vacant former institutional buildings and unfinished development that have been vacant for a significant period of time. This revised Scheme removes the requirement that a property owner must be unable to fund or access funding to bring vacant properties into compliance with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.
Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund: As discussed at previous MD and SPC meetings under the Town Centre First Plan the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant was launched in July 2022 and then extended to rural areas in November 2022. A grant of up to a maximum of €30,000 will be available for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence, including the conversion of a property which has not been previously used as residential. This scheme can be used for ‘over the shop’ vacant properties but it must be their principal private residence. A further top up of €20,000 is available where the property is considered to be derelict. To date we have received 28 No. application for this grant.
Bringing Back Homes – Manual for the reuse of existing buildings:
This is a very useful manual which outlines what is involved in bringing vacant properties including ‘over the shop’ properties back into use. Chapter 2 outlines various options for the different types of buildings and advises on planning permission, Fire Safety Certs and Disabled Access Cert. Appendix 5 outlines all the various assistance, grants and incentives that are available. A revised manual is due to be published later this year.
Living City Initiative:
The Living City Initiative (LCI) is a tax incentive scheme for Special Regeneration Areas in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford. Under this initiative you can claim tax relief for money you spend on refurbishing or converting residential or commercial properties. We would like to see this scheme expanded to Sligo Town.
Increased Resources:
Under ‘Housing for All – a New Housing Plan for Ireland’ every Local Authority will be funded to appoint a full time Vacant Homes Officer. With an expanded Vacant Homes Team, Sligo County Council will be increasing our activity in the area of residential vacancy and dereliction including the CPO of vacant and derelict properties.