KILDARE: Council is to buy up vacant homes on historic Naas street

Kildare County Council is in the process of buying a number of houses on a Naas street just off the centre of the town.

The properties are located at Basin Street, which is one of the oldest areas of the town and which links the main street with the Grand Canal area and the public library.

It wants to buy four cottages, which form part of the terraced housing there.

Public notices have been placed on all four properties.

These notices inform the probable owners of the properties that the council intends to compulsorily purchase each

KCC is empowered, under the Housing Act, to amend these notices which effectively ask the owners to submit details of compensation claims to the local authority - within a specified time period.

Research by  local  historians Mario Corrigan and James Durney shows the  street was once known as Basin Lane and the 1901 census indicated there were 15 dwellings there (one unoccupied), with 62 inhabitants .

All of the dwellings, except number 15, were classified as second class dwellings. The occupations listed for the residents included shoemaker, poultry dealer, delph shop owner, railway officer and a sergeant in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Ten years later it was known as Basin Street and the population had increased to 75, with all 15 houses being lived in.

In the following years a number of businesses opened there  but most have since closed.

In a brief statement KCC, said it is  “progressing the acquisition of these properties through the compulsory purchase process”.

And as part of this process ownership and compensation will be determined. 

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