A report by the Housing Agency has found that Limerick City and County Council is the most successful in the country at tackling dereliction and developing vacant properties to add to their housing stock.
The council has tackled the issue of dereliction aggressively over the past seven years and has vested, or taken ownership of, 206 derelict properties up to last year.
The council now accounts for 52% of all residences and properties compulsorily acquired across the country, using the powers of the Derelict Sites Act.
The successful work undertaken by the council is outlined in a report by the Housing Agency, which examines how city and county councils achieved this, and what lessons are there for other councils across the country to improve their attempts at battling dereliction.
Dereliction is a major problem in villages, towns and cities across the country as the GeoDirectory recorded 20,413 residential properties as derelict last year.
As well as being a blight on their location, they undermine market prices, attract anti-social behaviour and are a health and safety risk.
Restoring derelict sites has a number of benefits.
It adds to the council's housing stock for social and other housing, brings new life and families into those houses and revitalises towns and villages blighted by old, ugly and dangerous buildings.
Those working on the dereliction issue at Limerick City and County Council said the establishment of a dedicated, specialised team and providing seed funding were crucial.
Limerick City and County Council property services manager Jayne Leahy has been part of the team for some years and oversees the often difficult job of tackling derelict and vacant sites, but also witnesses the benefit it brings to local towns.
Before and after pictures of restoration works:
"Key factors are the investment by the council in establishing a dedicated team bringing all those working in this area together to streamline the processes involved," she said.
Ms Leahy added: "We also assigned capital funding to allow us to take on the properties and the remedial works involved.
"We acted under the Derelict Sites Act to compulsorily acquire properties. We inspected over 7,000 properties and have vested 206 up to last year.
"Also crucial was the support of elected councillors to proceed with the work and the buy in by them once they saw the benefits it brought to local towns and villages."
Ms Leahy highlighted that it is always the objective of the council to get the owners of these properties to tackle them in the first instance.
And there is quite a demand for these properties once they are upgraded.
She said there is also a vacant property refurbishment grant of €70,000 available for properties built before 2007, so there is sizeable funding available to review and upgrade a derelict property.
Before and after pictures of more restoration works:
Among the towns to benefit is Abbeyfeale in west Limerick, where an old pub in the town - derelict and empty for over 20 years - as well as a terrace of nine houses and another end of terrace property have all been transformed, rebuilt to a very high standard and brought back into use.
Ger O'Donovan is a Senior Executive technician with the council and works at the heart of the dereliction and vacant properties team looking after site plans and building works.
"Many of the properties were derelict over decades and were in a very poor state of repair, so health and safety are huge issues with derelict properties.
"In some cases, particularly when a property was located in a terrace of houses, they were in danger of falling down and bringing their neighbouring properties with them," Mr O'Donovan said.
He added: "It's a massive undertaking and the work involved should not be underestimated but having said that the reward is also huge.
"We're bringing properties back to life for occupation by families or individuals and bringing life back into towns like Abbeyfeale which is also vital, and a major boost for the town."
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Limerick's ambition is now being used as an example for other council's about what can be achieved.
Martin Whelan is CEO of the Housing Agency, which works with the Department of Housing and local authorities along with approved housing bodies in the delivery of integrated housing solutions and building sustainable communities.
"First of all, look at Limerick's ambition to tackle this. They set up a dedicated team and used existing robust legislation to tackle dereliction and established best practice in this whole area," Mr Whelan said.
He added: "They have articulated very well the elements which made their approach successful, and we want now to scale up what Limerick has done with other councils on a national level."
