20 May 2024
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
The event will take place in Saint Peter’s Church on North Main Street
Kieran McCarthy of RTE’s Cheap Irish Homes, Rosemarie Webb of Technological University Dublin, and author and former Irish Times Environment Editor, Frank McDonald, are just some of the speakers at Cork City Council’s upcoming vacancy event, which aims to give practical advice to owners of vacant and derelict properties. This major event, titled “Urban Fabric: Addressing Dereliction & Vacancy” is in its second year, and provides practical advice from industry experts on everything from available grants to planning concerns to carbon footprint and SEAI options. The theme of this year’s event centres around upcycling and reuse of existing buildings
The event will take place in Saint Peter’s Church on North Main Street on Friday 24 May from 10am to 1:30pm, following last year’s successful event at Nano Nagle Place. In addition to external speakers and industry experts, Cork City Council staff will give talks on issues that can affect a property’s return to use. The event will include talks directly aimed at homeowners as well as some wider industry advice for builders and developers.
Cork City saw a major uptick in activity in dereliction last year, with the number of sites on the Derelict Sites Register being increased by 45%. There was a similar increase in the number of sites under investigation for dereliction, which leads to a removal of dereliction or placement on the register and the accrual of levies. As of March 2024, over 700 properties are being investigated for dereliction, potential placement on the register or are on the city’s vacancy register. In addition, over 250 applicants have now applied for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant which allocates up to €50,000 for vacant homes, and up to €70,000 for derelict homes. Over €12.5 million in grants is being progressed to bring these 250 long term vacant and derelict properties back into use, with further applications invited while the grant remains available. Other grants schemes, like the Living Cities Initiative, continue to assist homeowners in restoring long term vacant or derelict properties to use.
Cork City Council has been holding a series of informal public drop-in Vacancy & Dereliction sessions across the city, with Blackpool and Bishopstown complete, and future events upcoming in other electoral wards. These provide information to members of the public on the supports available to refurbish vacant and derelict properties including the popular Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. The larger scale event will also allow attendees to ask questions directly to City Council staff once the talks have concluded, and brochures will be available to take away on the day.
Attendees can reserve a space by visiting Eventbrite.ie and searching for “urban fabric cork”. Walk ups will be accepted on the day if space is available.
Persons unable to attend or seeking more information about vacancy, dereliction and housing grants and schemes, or looking to report a derelict site, are encouraged not to wait for events and to make contact with the council as soon as possible. This can be done via the website at www.corkcity.ie or email on DerelictSites@corkcity.ie and VacantProperties@corkcity.ie