No properties on Louth's Vacant Site Register

Louth County Council has not yet any lands entered on its vacant sites register as it has not identified any vacant sites, councillors were informed at the Louth County Council July meeting.

Cllr Conor Keelan raised the matter at the monthly meeting, asking what was being done to populate the vacant site register that the local authority maintains.

The vacant sites register is a register of lands in the local authority’s area that are suitable for housing but have not been put forward for development. A site can be added to the vacant sites register when the local authority decides that the property has been vacant for 12 months or more. 

Since 2017, local authorities, including Louth County Council are obliged under law to maintain a vacant sites register.

The owners of sites on a vacant sites register can be asked to pay a vacant sites levy, which is 7% of the market value of the land. The levy is intended to encourage the development of vacant sites and to reduce land hoarding. The vacant sites levy is paid to the local authority each year until the site is removed from the register.

Replying to Cllr Keelan's query at the July meeting, Louth Chief Executive Joan Martin, said that council has a vacant site register but there was no sites on it, which she added was not unusual, as other councils around the country have nothing on their vacant site registers.

On replying to a further query from Cllr Keelan as to why there were no sites on the register, Ms Martin said it was none had been identified. 

Cllr Keelan enquired as to how long ago Louth County Council was notified that it had to populate the register, and on hearing that it was some years ago, asked the Chief Executive if it was true that in those years that it never identified any vacant sites, with Ms Martin confirming that this was the case.

The Fianna Fáil councillor then asked if it would be a useful exercise for the local authority to identify sites for the register and eventually recoup some finds.

Ms Martin replied to say that they already carried out the exercise, according to the legislation. She added that she would put together an extra note on the matter that she would include in the following month's Management Report.