SeriesPretty Vacant
Tipperary County Council was the only local authority to apply to the commission for a CPO last month.
BOARDED-UP HOUSES AND crumbling buildings are a common feature of towns and cities across Ireland.
Derelict buildings contribute significantly to Ireland’s housing crisis, and bringing them back into use is one of the government’s strategies for addressing social housing shortfalls and getting more homes on the market.
Last month, the compulsory purchase order (CPO) process was used via An Coimisiún Pleanála for 24 properties, though all of these were in one estate.
In September, Tipperary County Council applied to An Coimisiún Pleanála to compulsorily acquire a site at Glen Court in Emly, where local reporting has identified 24 vacant houses.
Under laws introduced in 1990, every local council keeps a Derelict Sites Register to encourage owners to bring vacant houses and land into use through the imposition of an annual levy of 7% of the property’s market value, which applies until the site is no longer derelict.
When someone objects to a local authority’s attempt to obtain a property via the CPO process, the council can apply to An Coimisiún Pleanála to do so.
The Housing Act also allows local authorities to acquire vacant homes via CPO, which they must also apply to do via the commission.
The process is similar to making a standard planning application, and the board weighs up submissions from the council and the owner of the land before deciding whether a site can be subject to a CPO.
The number of properties that councils try to CPO via the commission every month is usually relatively small.
It is worth noting, however, that Ireland’s councils successfully CPO other properties without having to go to the commission, which helps bring derelict properties back into use.
The Journal reported in March that Ireland’s local authorities acquired 99 properties through CPOs in 2025, including houses and land intended for housing.
We have tracked the properties and sites involved in applications to the commission since April last year.
We have also been keeping track of the vacant and derelict properties that councils have applied to the commission to acquire via CPO since April last year.
This list shows the total number of applications made to An Coimisiún Pleanála by councils to CPO derelict properties since our series began in 2025:
- April 2025: Six
- May 2025: Three
- June 2025: Two
- August 2025: Two
- September 2025: Five
- October 2025: Two
- November 2025: Three
- December 2025: One
- January 2026: One
- February 2026: Seven
- March 2026: Two
- April 2026: 13
- May 2026: Five
- June 2026: 20
- July 2026: Four
- August 2026: Three
Glen Court, Emly (Tipperary)
On 15 September, Tipperary County Council submitted an application to acquire a derelict site at Glen Court in Emly.
The bid concerned 24 houses in an estate left unfinished after the economic crash, according to reporting by local radio station Tipp FM, when the council’s compulsory purchase plans were first announced.
The station reported at the time that residents have faced years of infrastructure problems, including difficulties with wastewater treatment, alongside antisocial behaviour and fires which damaged some of the properties.
Another local station, Tipp Mid West Radio, reported in March 2024 that approximately 24 houses in the estate had never been occupied.
It can be considered a ghost estate, a housing development that is left unfinished or largely empty where some homes may still be occupied.
There has been some progress on the estate’s infrastructure more recently.
Council minutes show that councillors approved taking responsibility for Glen Court on 27 January 2025, bringing its roads under the council’s responsibility.
However, the September application to An Coimisiún Pleanála to CPO the site bid quickly stalled.
The commission marked the application invalid on 17 September, and its online case entry does not explain the reason.
Tipp FM reported on 29 September that Sinn Féin councillor Annemarie Ryan Shiner had been assured the council would submit another application to CPO the site.
The attempted CPO is part of a wider programme to tackle dereliction in Tipperary.
In its July management report, the council recorded 141 sites on its derelict sites register, up from 115 in January.
It set a target of issuing derelict-site notices concerning an additional 100 properties during 2026.
The report also said two CPO processes had been completed that year, with acquisitions in Clonmel and Cashel, while 24 had commenced and another 28 were being prepared.
The council said it had issued €1.1 million in derelict-site levies for 2026 and planned to pursue collection.