Offaly town suggested for pilot project to revamp vacant homes

Edenderry has been suggested as a pilot project aimed at improving and bringing vacant homes back into use.

Edenderry councillor Noel Cribbin, Fine Gael, is highlighting the potential of vacant homes in Edenderry in solving the town’s housing crisis following coverage of the issue at a national level in the weekend’s Sunday Independent.

Cllr Cribbin outlined how he has been in communication with Richard Bruton, TD, in regard to the issue.

Cllr Cribbin said: “The vacant homes issue in Edenderry is a bugbear of mine and one that I have constantly raised at both local Municipal District meetings and at Offaly County Council meetings. Prior to Christmas, Deputy Richard Bruton wrote to me that the ‘vacant home’ issue is one that Fine Gael is committed to pursuing in 2022.

"I have been in contact with Deputy Bruton explaining how bad it is in Edenderry and that I would do a review with photographic evidence. I also put forward the suggestion that Edenderry could act as a pilot project for what could be done to improve vacant homes in towns and villages throughout Ireland.”

Cllr Cribbin undertook an ad hoc review of the vacant housing in the town recently and was shocked to discover 60 empty and derelict homes.

"What shocked me most is that there are so many people in Edenderry unable to access housing due to lack of availability and high house prices. On the other side of it, I would estimate that none of these properties in their current state would be worth less than €120,000 to €125,000. There are not many of us who could say no to a lump sum of that size.

He outlined that help is already available.

“Offaly County Council offers loans of up to €60,000 for refurbishment on the condition that the houses can be rented by the Council to home people on their housing list.”

Cllr Cribbin added: “In addition, there is also help with retrofitting old property either through the SEAI or through the Edenderry Carbon Footprint Challenge which is a project we in Edenderry Tidy Towns are currently undertaking, where we will help homeowners to get the best grants and costs to retrofit their properties.”

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Cllr Cribbin urged the owners of these homes to come forward. He said, “I urge families to come forward, don’t leave it to next year or to another family member to start the process, as I say there is plenty of help out there. It is important that these property owners are aware of the help that is available to them. In the last two years, work has taken place on a small number of similar properties in the town with one cottage selling for €250,000 after significant refurbishments.”

While Cllr Cribbin fully supports the Government’s Housing for All plan, he is dedicated to ensuring that the many vacant houses in Edenderry and surrounding areas will not be forgotten in solving the housing crisis.

“I intend to use my voice to exert pressure at a senior Government level to drive incentives to encourage family owners and young couples to invest in these homes, to accelerate legislation that makes Banks return houses to the markets rather than leaving them vacant for years, and to give local councils more powers that they can make compulsory purchases of vacant houses and get them back into use.

"I will be making my feelings for more urgent actions known to my FG colleagues and if I can be of assistance to anyone who owns such houses in Edenderry, I would be happy to discuss their options with them. I can be contacted on 087 9073804 or at noelcribb56@gmail.com and confidentiality is guaranteed,” Cllr Cribbin concluded.