Property dereliction is antisocial behaviour perpetrated by the rich

The dysfunctional state of Ireland’s housing market was perfectly illustrated by the recent collapse of a derelict cottage on Dublin’s Grand Canal. As hard as it might be to believe, this property is owned by the very people who are supposed to represent Ireland’s builders.

Last week it was revealed that in the middle of a housing crisis, when every property should be occupied, the owner of a small terrace of derelict cottages on a prime site in Ranelagh was none other than the Construction Industry Federation (CIF). Let that sink in for a minute. The organisation that has presided over this episode of urban decay, allowing dwellings to fall into ruin, is the lobby group whose members are supposed to be building the country. Only in Ireland.

This represents policy dysfunction on a monumental scale, laid bare in a micro-aggression against society at large. You might think the term aggression is over the top, but it’s not if you regard dereliction as an antisocial behaviour that spreads from one property to another and from one street to the next.

We are used to hearing the “antisocial behaviour” label to describe a gang of young lads in hoodies hanging around a street corner threatening passers-by. It is considered antisocial because it detracts from the sociability and cohesion of the area.

Dereliction is similarly antisocial but it is perpetrated by rich adults rather than poor youths. Allowing homes and buildings to degrade to such an extent gives permission to other landlords to abuse their property, typically hoarding in the hope of future gain. Dereliction begets dereliction. The more hoarding, the less property available in the city and the higher the overall price of property. The hoarder is quids-in.

This must be stopped.

Property ownership is more than mere financial asset management: the owners of property are custodians of the urban environment. Apparent indifference is not a victimless crime. The area is the victim. Delinquent behaviour, ie allowing buildings to degrade, undermines the other owners who are acting responsibly by maintaining their properties.

That the CIF is abandoning buildings a stone’s throw from the city during a housing crisis underscores the lamentable state of the Irish property market. What is the Minister of Housing going to do about this? When an organisation with influence over housing and development policy can show such blatant disregard for the city, we know we have reached a new low in terms of bureaucratic incompetence and rank hypocrisy. We hear people talking on the airwaves about rebuilding Ireland, while at the same time allowing the delipidated buildings they own in Ranelagh fall down during morning rush hour. You couldn’t make it up.

Can someone take responsibility, please – if only for the credibility of the State that indulges such organisations? What does it take? A pedestrian, motorist or cyclist to be killed under the crumbling debris?

Although it is particularly egregious, the canal episode isn‘t an isolated incident. GeoDirectory, the data company used by An Post, has estimated that 14,500 residential and commercial properties lie vacant across Dublin, with 4,000 of these occupying prime locations in the city centre. In the past year or so, dereliction has become substantially worse, with a more than 20 per cent increase on the 12,000 or so vacant properties identified by GeoDirectory in the capital in 2023.

Between the two canals are 4,082 vacant buildings. Half of these are commercial, roughly one-third are residential and the remainder are mixed-use. Dublin 2 is the worst offender, home to 41 per cent of vacant buildings, of which the vast majority (75 per cent) are commercial.

The Victorian commercial districts of Dublin 1 (Parnell, Talbot, Capel and Dorset Streets) account for more than half (610) of the vacant flats above commercial units. The city is literally falling down in front of our eyes. And while dilapidation in Dublin is particularly acute, the same story applies across Ireland’s urban centres, from Drogheda to Cork and Waterford to Limerick.

Dereliction and vacancy are the result of choices made by individuals, companies and even lobby groups like the CIF. It is time to put a price on those choices because dereliction destroys not just the buildings themselves but also the streets. Allowing your building to become derelict must be called out as antisocial behaviour.

It is clear that we need substantial fines imposed on reckless property owners, both to change their behaviour and to send a signal. Many of these people are hoarding their buildings in the hope of selling on at a higher price. Such behaviour must be discouraged with a penalty. For example, once a building is categorised derelict by the local council, the owners should face a hefty fine on their total income – not just their property income. Owners shouldn’t be permitted to hide behind corporate trickery, allowing them to pretend a different corporate facade to escape the financial consequences of their social irresponsibility.

As well as the big stick of punishment, the State might try something softer, at least initially. Realising that people react to incentives, why not incentivise bad owners to sell to good owners who will do something positive with the site? When it comes to vacancy and dilapidation, owners often claim penury, or some legal familial or inheritance dispute to explain why their property is allowed to degrade. So why not issue an amnesty to coax them to sell the properties within a year, after which point a draconian penalty is imposed to make them change their ways.

The council might give these owners a chance to avoid a big fine by giving an amnesty – a last chance to sell. If they sell immediately, they can avoid the fine; if not, the council will come down on them like a fiscal ton of bricks. In no time, the property market would be flooded with buildings that were previously hoarded, driving down prices in the city where prices were, up to recently, thought to be only going upwards.

This is doable at the stroke of a pen with a bit of political courage. Wouldn’t it be great if our politicians tried to fix what’s right under their noses as opposed to opining on the global picture, which they can do nothing about? As for the CIF, on behalf of your members – the builders of Ireland – have you no shame?