‘Symbolic’ change to rules will net €1.5m for community services and encourage landlords to use empty buildings
He said he was aware of commercial buildings for which landlords claimed they could not get a tenant for five years or more. “But they should apply to change the designation from commercial to residential or sell them on so that someone else can make use of them,” he said.
He said in a bustling city where property was at a premium there was no justification for continuing to “offer a tax incentive for keeping buildings vacant”. Tax incentives, he said should be “going the other way” and “penalising those who keep buildings empty”. The change affects commercial buildings, only a small number of which might be designated for accommodation, such as guest houses. The change will not affect apartment blocks or private houses and Mr Pidgeon said he accepts it would not have a dramatic effect on housing in the city. Nor would it be appropriate in many rural towns, he said.
“But in Dublin it is a symbolic change – it sends a signal that in a city as busy as Dublin is, it is no longer acceptable to have buildings empty. Those holding such buildings should change designation or get off the pot” he said.
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