Auctioneers call for radical intervention to aid towns and villages

The country’s auctioneers have called for a radical intervention to breathe new life into Ireland’s decimated towns and villages.

The Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers – representing almost 1,000 auctioneers – want to see a tax incentive scheme to convert non-viable commercial buildings into residential use by owner-occupiers.

That was one of the key proposals set out by the new President of IPAV at the organisation’s recent annual conference.

Eamon O’Flaherty from Lanesboro, Co. Longford, is a Director of Property Partners Brady in Maynooth

“The process of putting the lights back on in the centre of towns and villages would reverberate out into the local economy and community. The first to see the lift would be local tradesmen and women, next would be other retail outlets and then the schools,” he said.

He called on the Government to introduce a scheme for non-viable commercial premises to be converted to residential use with a tax incentive for owner occupiers.

“It’s clear from a walk through any of our rural towns that without reasonable incentives, no scheme will succeed. The nature and scope of the scheme is a matter for the Government to decide but my belief is that we need a generous and broad-based scheme if we are to breathe life into our town centres again,” he added.

He said while the IPAV welcomed the Living City initiative launched recently by the government, it was too limited focusing only on the regeneration of the historic centres of six cities – Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Kilkenny.

“IPAV believes we need a nationwide scheme especially open to all our rural towns. Otherwise such towns will continue to languish and disintegrate before our eyes,” he said.

Mr O’Flaherty said the Government initiative in conjunction with the European Commission, which has promised an €80 million fund for urban renewal projects currently being finalised by the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government is eagerly awaited.    He cautioned however that co-ordination of policy is essential.

“Piecemeal isolated initiatives devised by well intentioned people who don’t have sufficient knowledge of the overall market or vision for the future, will not work,” he warned.

To this end he reiterated IPAV’s call for the setting up of a national property council which government would use as a consultative process to aid long-term planning. IPAV supports a vacant site levy in larger cities as an incentive to get inner city construction moving as rapidly as possible.

“We welcome the fact that the Government has now taken up this idea in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015 currently before the Dáil,” he said.

IPAV’s annual conference took place at Carton House, Maynooth, and was addressed by Tom Parlon, Director General of the Construction Industry Federation, as well as Chris Grezesik, Chairman of TEGoVA, Europe’s representative body for real estate valuers in 33 countries.