The Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill put forward by the party aims to establish a single permitting system for fire, accessibility and planning in a one-stop-shop for renovation work.
If returned to Government, the Green Party will create a national online register of derelict sites, containing details such as the condition of the buildings, the site's planning history and zoning objective and any outstanding levies due on the land.
This will help councils and policymakers to identify derelict sites for intervention.
-- Advertisement --
"It streamlines the processes and it provides for simplified technical guidance for anyone who wants to turn an empty building into a home," said Steven Matthews TD, Green Party Spokesperson for Planning and Local Government.
"This is the answer to bringing life and living to our towns, ending the scourge of vacancy and providing financial support to those who want to make their home in a town, village or city."
A vital element of this plan is to keep providing financial support for renovation work. The Greens introduced the vacant property refurbishment grant in Government which offers households grants of between €50,000 and €70,000 to bring a vacant or derelict property back into use.
The Greens propose to make it easier to access these grants by making them available in staged payments and provide greater powers and resources to local authorities to compulsory purchase derelict buildings.
The Green Party will also overhaul the system of taxing vacant and derelict properties. The Party will increase the vacant homes tax and expand its scope to include homes currently excluded because they are deemed uninhabitable.
