Vacant properties

Sir, – Why are the many thousands of premises lying vacant in every city, town and village in Ireland not being brought into use to solve some of the housing crisis problems?

Every town has shops at ground level with space above them lying empty, very many of them derelict or in poor condition, but with some investment could be made very habitable, either for single use or small families, students, young working couples, etc. This would have a major impact on many aspects of life in our towns. It would held restore old buildings, bring life back to our towns and help support small struggling businesses, cut down on traffic, slow the enormous environmental impact on our countryside by cutting back on ribbon development, give added security to town centres as people would be living there, create employment for builders, plumbers, painters, etc, in restoration of these premises.

A grant scheme could be developed to encourage owners to lease, let or sell the space above their shops which would be considerably more cost-effective then building on green-field sites and all that that involves. To my mind it seems totally logical to utilise this opportunity to quickly create a vast range of housing for the many who are really struggling to get a home. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL VAMBECK,

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Letterkenny,

Co Donegal.