Clare County Council has begun the compulsory acquisition of 20 derelict properties across the county.
The local authority is characterising the move as a “significant escalation in its efforts to combat dereliction and increase housing supply”.
A compulsory purchase order, or CPO, is the legal mechanism statutory bodies like Clare County Council can use to take land or property without the owner’s consent.
This is typically done for the common good in order to facilitate the progression of a public infrastructure project or to put the land or property to use.
The local authority has confirmed it’s now commenced the CPO process on 20 derelict properties in Clare.
Of these, it says 15 were previously residential in nature while five were commercial.
In a statement to Clare FM, Clare County Council says the action is part of a “significant escalation in its efforts to combat dereliction and increase housing supply in towns, villages and rural communities across the county”.
It says it marks an “intensification in its “approach to tackling long term derelict sites”.
Additionally, it says it “forms part of a broader strategy aimed at accelerating housing delivery, which includes the creation of a specialised Housing Activation Unit within the Council and the proposed amendment of the county development plan to designate more land for residential development”.
