Demolition of 52 derelict homes in Tipperary to cost council €400,000
The cost to demolish more than 50 derelict homes in Tipperary will cost the local authority around €400,000.
Tipperary County Council is proposing to demolish 52 derelict, half-built homes at Ballypadeen, in Cashel, on the site of the former Cashel Kings Motel.
The council are planning to demolish the houses because when planning permission for them was granted in the early 2000s, the houses were to be used as holiday accommodation for the proposed hotel on the site, which never materialised.
The houses came as part of an overall plan to build an international trade centre, international arbitration centre, an aparthotel with 176 bedrooms, 32 apartment suites complete with restaurants, lounge bars, conference rooms and function rooms, leisure centre and swimming pools.
Only the houses were ever built on the site, with works eventually stopping after a few years, with a lengthy legal battle involving the council and the developers of the site.
Calls have been made for Tipperary County Council to bring the houses back into use as homes for those on the council’s housing list, with TD Mattie McGrath holding an event on the site over the bank holiday weekend to show people the condition of the properties.
Now, an application for a contractor to tender for the works, published online, shows that the estimated cost of demolishing the homes stands at €400,000.
A number of submissions to the council’s plans say knocking the houses would be “ridiculous” and “makes no logical sense”.
"I think it would be ridiculous to knock the houses. Surely a deal can be made with the site owner to sell to the council and these houses be restored to be given to some of the thousands of families on housing lists,” one person said.
"We've never before had such a housing crisis and some in the council think it would be a wise move to clear the site,” they added.
Another person said that the proposal “makes no logical sense”.
"This proposal needs reconsidering from both a social, economic and environmental view-point,” they said.
Another objector said that it would be far easier to finish the houses as they are, rather than try to build 52 brand new homes on the site.
"With 52 house in varying degrees of completion these houses could be brought to a habitable state much easier than building 52 houses from scratch and also without the expenses of demolishing and disposing of the existing houses,” they said.
"Given the housing situation in Ireland today this is an opportunity to house 52 families and should be possible to do it within a reasonable budget and preserve the existing site and houses,” he added.
Planning files compiled by Tipperary County Council seeking permission to demolish the houses says that the buildings cannot be repurposed into residential accommodation for a number of reasons.
"In advance of preparing the proposed Part 8 application consideration was given to the potential to re-use/redevelop the existing structures on the subject site,” an agent for the council said.
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“The local authority and the developer, entered into a binding mediated settlement in July 2025. This settlement brought a lengthy litigation process on the site to a conclusion and requires that the local authority take possession of the site, [and] carry out the remediation works.”
After the site has been cleared, the council will then hand the land back to the owners.
The planning permission for the houses is also cited as a major reason why they cannot be brought back into use as homes for people on the council’s housing list, the agent added.
"As set out under the planning history section, the 52 houses permitted on the site were restricted to use for purposes ancillary to the hotel and shall not be used as places of permanent residence.
“The southern cluster of units, numbers 1-32 were granted retention permission [from An Bord Pleanála]. Condition number one attached to the grant of permission required that the use of the units shall be restricted solely to use as accommodation units associated with the hotel and shall not be otherwise sold, leased or let separately from the hotel on site,” the agent said.
"The hotel was never constructed and permission for same has long expired. Permission for retention of the northern cluster of units was not granted.”
Even if the council was to seek planning permission to bring the houses back into use as they are, the agent explained, because of where the site is and that the land is unzoned and unserviced, the current county development plan “does not support speculative residential development at such a location”.
The council also has concerns about the ability to reuse the structures, according to planning files, and are unsure if the houses could meet modern-day BER standards.
Councillors will vote on the Part 8 plans at a future council meeting, which will decide the fate of the properties on the site.