Your property questions answered

How can we find the owner of a derelict house on our road?

There is a house at the end of the terrace on which we live that is in bits. It was fine when we moved in 10 years ago - it was just shabby.

Now kids use it as a hangout, the slates have been taken off part of the roof, the windows have been broken, the back door has gone and it is very overgrown.

Our neighbours think the house was sold within the family that owned it and they planned to redevelop but that hasn't happened. The side garden wall and the gate pillar is now in a very dangerous condition and seems shakey and the corrugated roof on the shed is precarious.

We don't know the owner, so how do we go about contacting them to get them to make the wall safe (which we pass every day) and the building less of an eyesore?

You don't necessarily need to contact the owner of the property. Instead you can contact your local authority which has the power under the Derelict Sites Act, 1990, and the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1964, to deal with derelict sites and dangerous structures.

It will be up to the local authority to track down the owner and serve them with notice to clean up and make their property safe.

Property owners are required by law to make sure their property does not become derelict or contain any dangerous structures. Getting a property onto the derelict sites registry is a long process involving several notices to the owners, and so on, but a side wall that is shakey with the potential to fall out on the public pathway should get the attention of the local authority very quickly.

There is provision in the legislation for the local authority to fix the dangerous wall, chimney stack and so on and to bill the owner.

As the house has been empty for the past 10 years and has taken some time to get into this state of disrepair it could very well be the case that the local authority is already in contact and serving notice on the owner.

Do I have to watch where I buy abroad for tax reasons?

What is a double taxation agreement? I am at the very early stages of looking for an investment/holiday property abroad (not sure where yet) and have been told by a friend who is wise to these things that it is important to buy a property in a country with which Ireland has such an agreement.

The state has double taxation agreements with a long and ever growing list of countries. Basically these agreements ensure that you don't pay tax twice on the same income.

Generally under a double taxation agreement, income from, for example renting out your foreign property, will either be taxed solely in one country or, if it remains taxable in both, that the taxpayer's country of residence will grant a credit for the tax paid in the other country.

You'll get good general information from www.revenue.ie, including the list of countries with which we have double taxation agreements or (less punter-friendly info from) www.taxireland.ie but that's only general information, anyone buying abroad needs to get professional tax advice, not just from a friend "wise to these things".

Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.