Compulsory acquisition of 34 properties since 2020 by City Hall

Cork City Council acquired 34 properties through compulsory acquisition between 1 January 2020 and 1 July 2026.

The figures were released to Green Party Cllr Dan Boyle at the latest meeting of Cork City Council.

Of the properties taken over by the council, 26 were vested in the authority under the Derelict Sites Act, 1990, while eight were acquired by way of compulsory purchase order under the Housing Act, 1966, and the Planning & Development Act, 2000.

Acquisitions made under the former act are made to bring properties back into use after falling into dereliction, while those under the latter are made as part of broader projects, such as infrastructure projects.

Cllr Boyle said the council needs to be doing more on dereliction, and supporting more measures which bring housing back into use.

Cork City Council has consistently placed in the top half of councils around the country when it comes to compulsory acquisitions.

Between 2023 and 2025, the council acquired 13 properties, ranking it as the twelfth highest council for compulsory acquisitions in the country. On average, it has acquired four properties a year over this time period.

However, it fell well behind the leaders in the field. In the same time period, Limerick City and County Council acquired 64 properties, an average of 21 properties per year. The next was Clare County Council - 28 properties - followed by Kildare County Council - 26 properties.

Cork City Council still ranked well ahead of the bottom five local authorities on the list.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Galway, Louth, and Westmeath County Councils, and Galway City Council all acquired no properties between 2023 and 2025.

The figures for the past number of years have been compiled by the Department of Housing and Local Government, and made available through the Compulsory Purchase Order Activation Programme.

Property can be bought via compulsory purchase by local and national authorities to carry out infrastructure projects, or to address dereliction.

Owners of the property are eligible for compensation, which can be based on the market value of the property, a value that will leave the owner in the same financial position as before, or reflective of the loss of value of the property left after the CPO.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.