Page 31 - 2_Council Journal Summer 2019_full

FEATURE Mayo County Council Website Spearheads Mayo’s
Action Plan on Vacant Homes
Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, deals with utilising existing housing stock and VacantHomes.ie is Mayo County Council’s innovative response in trying to release the potential of vacant homes throughout the country.
V
www.vacanthomes.ie is a valuable tool in Ireland’s housing battle.
acantHomes.ie is a website that was initiated by Mayo County Council on behalf of
Gilligan. “Local people have local knowledge and they can provide a unique insight as to why properties are vacant. With this local knowledge they can identify and log details on to the vacant homes website, www. vacanthomes.ie This information can then be used by each housing authority in order to follow up and help get the unit back into use. Bringing vacant homes back into use is a win-win for everyone”. Apart from providing much needed homes for people with a housing need, bringing vacant homes back into use helps rejuvenate areas that are in decline. Breathing new life into homes that are vacant benefits our communities and helps protect local services. It also
helps the economies of our cities, towns and villages by having more people living within the area which stimulates growth including the creation of jobs. From a climate change perspective, it is also important as key infrastructure is already in place including roads and utilities such as water, telecoms and electricity.
the local government sector, as an online resource for anyone to anonymously log possible vacant properties and alert housing authorities who can then follow up with the owners to see whether the vacant property can be brought back for use as a home.
To date, Mayo County Council is delighted with the feedback and assistance it is receiving from the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government, local authorities, the public and various agencies throughout the country as regards its response to the housing crisis. “Here in Mayo, we have a significant number
Tom Gilligan, Director of Services at Mayo County Council, highlights the importance of the VacantHomes.ie initiative in helping to solve Ireland’s current housing crisis. “What we want to do is to try and bring empty homes back into use and are asking the public for their help to do this” says
Council Journal 31