Negligent owners targeted after 30 years of non-pursuit

The clampdown follows a number of blight summit and heritage crime summits last year which inspired the Department of Environment (DoE) to deploy urgent works notices in respect of listed buildings more rigorously.

Speaking at the Stormont Assembly Mr Attwood revealed just two urgent work notices were served since the 1980s.

“Over the past 30 years - this sounds remarkable - the government in the North have deployed only two urgent works notices in respect of listed buildings,” he explained.

He added: “Arising from that scary figure, I instructed the Department to begin to identify properties for which urgent work notices could be served. We have done that and have begun to serve notices. In the past two or three months, five such opportunities have arisen.

“As a consequence, urgent work notices have been served on landowners in Derry, Dungannon and Dundrum. In Belfast, works were done by developers because of the threat that notices would be served.”