Derelict Property Tax: the timetable, and what the council registers hold today.

A proposed annual tax on derelict properties that replaces the council-run Derelict Sites Levy. Revenue would collect it, the owner would self-assess it, and the rate is expected to be no lower than the current 7% of market value. It has been proposed in the Finance (No.2) Bill 2026; the Bill, not this page, is the authority on the detail, and the dates and rates may change before it is enacted.

The levy is applied by each council to properties on its register, and collection has been widely reported as weak, with many councils collecting little or nothing. The new tax moves collection to Revenue and is expected to reach many more properties, because councils will build fresh registers in 2027.

It depends what is counted. The statutory registers held about 1,900 properties in May 2025, according to a Dail reply. GeoDirectory, using An Post field staff, counts about 19,400 derelict residential address points at the end of 2025, and the Government's own estimate is close to 19,000. The first is a list a council has formally entered; the others are an estimate of the stock the new tax is expected to reach.

Each council publishes its register, and the entry is public. The table on this page counts what each council has published. PlanningLeads subscribers can search the combined list, see which registered properties have a planning application, and set alerts. We hold no owner details: the register is about the property.

Under the proposal the tax stops when the property is remediated, or the derelict structures are demolished and cleared. Owners can appeal an entry within the window after the preliminary register is published. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 also lets a council acquire a site compulsorily where an owner does nothing.