Dublin City Council has acquired 25 derelict sites and served acquisition notices on a further 11 over the past five years, latest figures released by the local authority show.
The council’s Derelict Sites Unit has put in place a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) strategy since 2017, so any site entered on the derelict sites register can be considered for possible acquisition.
If no derelict site owner makes contact with the council, a vesting order (CPO) can be placed on this site which means a local authority can take possession of the property without paying compensation to the owner once the Department of Housing gives the go ahead.
However, if a site owner does come forward then any outstanding levies on these sites will be deducted from any compensation claim made by the site owner to the council.
The figures were released to Dublin north inner city Independent councillor and former lord mayor Christy Burke at this month’s council meeting.
Cllr Burke questioned if the council has put in place legal action for the €20 million derelict and vacant site levies that are outstanding over a three-year period from 2018 to 2020. Of the overall €20 million owed, €3.5 million relates to derelict site levies.
“The number of derelict and vacant sites dotted around the city is staggering and the amount of monies outstanding is shocking. Where there is a homeless crisis surely a more fast track approach to taking over these sites needs to be put in place,” said Cllr Burke.
Ineffective and costly
There are 29 derelict sites on which levies have been due since 2021 and an additional 47 with levies due to be paid this year.
One of the derelict sites, which is located in Dublin 2, has levies outstanding that date back to 2009 with more than €100,000 being accrued.
Derelict sites legislation provides for the recovery of unpaid levies by way of a simple contract debt in court.
In the past however, debt collection proceedings for recovery of derelict sites levies have been ineffective and costly, with legal advice being that the best course of action was to formally register outstanding levies as a charge on the land.
Derelict sites legislation provides that unpaid levies, including interest, automatically become a charge on the land and will remain a charge until the full amount is discharged.
The council has prepared a formal procedure for registering the charge in Land Registry/ the Registry of Deeds.
If and when a derelict site with a charge is subject to a sale, purchasers will require vendors to have the charge removed as part of the conveyance process.
Ongoing strategy
Nial Dully, a spokesperson for the council said that the local authority has “implemented an ongoing acquisition strategy since 2017, so any site entered on the derelict sites register can be considered for possible acquisition.
“The Derelict Sites Unit has experienced that in the face of compulsory acquisition some derelict sites have been placed on the market and are at varying stages in the sales process which offers the prospect that outstanding levies will be discharged (paid).
“The council has experienced that in the current economic climate an increase in the number of vacant and derelict sites being brought to the market and has received a number of levy payments as a result of sales in recent years.”
With respect to the derelict site levy the total amount of levies outstanding stands at €3.5 million out of a total of €4.7 million, as more than €1.1 million has been paid.
The derelict site levy is currently 7 per cent of market value since 2020 prior to then it was 3 per cent.
In addition, outstanding levies attract interest at the rate of 1.25 per cent per month.
Outstanding levies, including interest, automatically become a charge on the land and will remain a charge on the land until all outstanding levies have been paid.
The largest outstanding levy is for almost €1 million for a factory site in Dublin 20.
Outstanding vacant and derelict levies, automatically become a charge on the land and remain so until all outstanding levies have been paid.
Levies apply with effect from January 1st of the next financial year following entry of a site on the Register for the full previous calendar year.
This means that a site which has remained entered on the Register from January 1st, 2021 until December 31st of the same year will become liable for payment of a vacant site levy for that year on January 1st this year.
The Vacant Sites Unit also adopts this strategy as vacant sites legislation likewise provides for outstanding vacant sites levies becoming a charge on the land.
The total amount of vacant site levies for the same three-year period from 2018 to 2020 is €17,145,650 with just €1,105,450 paid leaving an outstanding bill of €16,040,200.
In 2020, just €275,450 was paid in vacant levies when €10.8 million was demanded.
In 2019, €4.8 million was due with just €247,100 paid and, in 2018, €582,900 was paid from a bill of €1.47 million.
