Laois has the 11th highest vacancy rate for commercial premises in the country, a survey has found.
A total of 12.89% of premises in Laois were idle when the survey was carried out in 2014, ranking the county 11th, with Sligo topping the list with a 16% vacancy rate.
Laois also has one of the lowest address points in the country – the actual number of commercial premises in the county – with a rating of just 1.5%, leaving it level with Offaly with only Carlow (1.3%), Longford (1%) and Leitrim, (0.9%) ranked lower.
This means that Carlow, Longford and Leitrim have less than 3,000 units, with Laois just above that.
At a recent meeting of Laois County Council the high commercial rates in the county were cited as a deterrent for new businesses starting up.
Cllr Willie Aird told the council’s monthly meeting that rates as high as €11,325 are being levied on businesses, which was hindering young business people trying to set up in business.
He said this was “haemorrhaging’ business from Portlaoise. “We need to do something about this urgently. It is just too high, it is madness,” he said.
The meeting heard a re-evaluation of commercial premises is to be undertaken by the Valuation Office later this year determining the valuation of each property in line with current rental valuation, following which each local authority determines levies and collects the actual rates payable.
