Donegal County Council says it will shortly be appointing a Vacant Homes Officer as part of its response to the high level of vacancy and dereliction in the county.
The issue was raised by Cllr Ciaran Brogan, who asked what steps the council was taking to issue Compulsory Purchase Orders on derelict buildings.
Responding to Cllr Brogan, the council said the government’s recent ‘Housing for All’ strategy has
placed a new focus on the issue.
They say this strategy will require a review of vacancy and dereliction across the county, accompanied by a list of where priority interventions, including potential CPO actions, may lie within the overarching aims of regeneration and provision of housing options.
The officials says a high level examination of vacancy in the region has already been published by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly that will also inform the work of Council.
A Vacant Homes Officer will be appointed to follow through with identified priorities.
The council says resources have also been applied to the preparation of focused baseline studies using the Town Centre Health Check approach, which is back by the Heritage Council.
This an other strategies have been included in work which has been done in a number of towns, including Letterkenny, Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Donegal Town, Buncrana, Moville, Ramelton, Ballybofey/Stranorlar, Dungloe, Rathmullan and Carndonagh with further assessments planned during 2022.
