Tipperary Councillor Anne Marie Ryan is seeking clarification on the Vacant Homes Action Plan announced yesterday.
The Action Plan is to provide funding to local authorities to purchase vacant properties, using compulsory purchase orders in some cases and to take necessary action to see the property used to provide homes.
Cllr Ryan is expressing disappointment that the funding of €150M in the scheme is to be distributed via the URDF – Tipperary town is not eligible to apply to this fund and must make it’s funding applications to the Rural Regeneration Development fund as it’s population is under 10,000.
Cllr Ryan has done extensive work on identifying vacant residential and commercial properties in Tipperary Town and says if Minister O’Brien really believes that the most efficient building to deliver is one that already exists, he needs to make equivalent funding supports available for smaller towns and villages.
Data collected by Cllr Ryan as part of the Collaborative Town Centre Health Check in Tipperary town revealed over 83 empty properties – both residential and commercial in the town centre alone.
