Anger over Mayo failure to identify vacant sites and charge levies

Disappointment has been expressed that Mayo County Council has failed to identify a single vacant site in the county for the purpose a charging a levy.

Former Castlebar Counciollr Harry Barrett said vacant site registers were established in 2017 - with local authorities supposed to keep records of vacant land that is suitable for housing but not being developed.

Levies were charged on these sites from 2018 at a rate of three per cent of a property’s market value, before the toll increased to seven per cent a year later.

It has been reported that councils found the process difficult to manage and landowners have frequently appealed a council’s decision to include their properties on vacant site registers.

According to the Irish Independent, the government has conceded there are shortcomings with the current arrangement and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien previously referenced a “scourge of vacancy across the country”.

Now the government is committed to replacing the vacant site levy with a new residential zoned land tax next year which will be collected by Revenue.

Less than two per cent of the money that developers and property owners owe councils for leaving sites idle last year has been paid, according to new figures.

Councils are now owed a total of €47.5 million in unpaid vacant site levies since 2019.

But new data has revealed local authorities around the country should have recouped more than €9.1 million in January from owners who left vacant sites undeveloped last year.

The data suggests the levy is being ignored by those who own vacant land that would be suitable for housing or development.

Mr. Barrett said it is shocking Mayo County Council had not taken steps to collect levies in view of its cash-strapped situation.

"It also poses questions for councillors who moan and groan about homelessness. They have been fast asleep at the wheel, so to speak," he added.