Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 June 2014
365. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which he has studied the vacancy rate of commercial properties throughout County Kildare as of January 2014; the way this compares with previous years; if any action is needed to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26715/14]
View answerMy Department has no specific remit in relation to vacant commercial properties and does not gather data of the nature outlined in the Question. However, the Retail Planning Guidelines published by my Department in 2012 provide policy direction for local authorities which relates, inter alia, to commercial properties. The Guidelines provide advice to local authorities with regard to preparing the retail content of a development plan. They require development plans and their supporting analyses to adopt a proactive approach to the development of city and town centres, assessing their vitality and viability, investigating potential development opportunities and activating potential development and redevelopment opportunities.
Annexe 2 of the Retail Planning Guidelines recommends examining the strengths and weaknesses of town centres to inform authorities on how well centres are performing in terms of their attraction, accessibility, amenity, and action programmes. One such indicator is the proportion of vacant street level property. The guidelines also advise that the indicators should be collected and monitored regularly for the main centres in the retail hierarchy in order to provide baseline information on the health of town centres and help inform the preparation of city or town centre strategies.
Local authorities also have the power to levy rates on the owner of vacant property under the Local Government Act 1946, where a property is unoccupied on the date of the making of the rate. The recent Local Government Reform Act 2014 provides for a change to rating law in relation to the refund of rates on vacant properties and gives discretion to the elected members of individual local authorities to vary the level of rates refunds that apply in individual local electoral areas within the authority’s administrative area. This discretion allows elected members to respond to the differing characteristics of the local commercial property markets. The collection of rates and the determination of eligibility for a refund in this context are matters for each individual local authority.
