Vacant Home Revamp grant to be extended

Estimated 92,000 vacant buildings around the country, according to Geodirectory.

The €50,000 grant for the refurbishment of vacant homes is to be extended to help tackle the housing crisis

Fianna Fail Senator Robbie Gallagher has been calling for the extension of the grant to rural areas.

There are at least 92,000 vacant buildings around the country according to Geodirectory, a company owned by An Post, but the current vacant property grant has been initially only available for properties located in 500 towns and villages with populations over 400 people.

Senator Robbie Gallagher says the €50,000 grant will apply to rural properties that have been idle for two years and will be lived in by their owners.

“It is now intended to extend the grant to city centres with high levels of vacancy and rural areas to bring back vacant properties such as derelict farmhouses which are a common sight in the countryside. This means that the grant will be available almost nationwide. The changes are to be announced in the coming months,” says Senator Gallagher.

The €50m grant already available for vacant property aims to bring 2000 homes back into use by 2023.

Houses must be vacant for two years and built before 1993 to qualify and the grants are available only to people who live in the house, not investors or landlords.

Property owners can get up to €30,000 to renovate a vacant property and an additional top-up grant of up to €20,000, if the property is derelict.

The grant is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund and you apply to your local authority.

The grant covers substructure works including work to foundations, rising walls, floor slabs, damp-proofing and underpinning, structural works to superstructure including walls, party walls, chimneys, suspended timber floors, structural timbers, works to internal walls, stairs, and landings, as well as internal wall completions including doors, windows, and applied finishes, external walls completions including doors, windows, sills, and applied finishes, roof completions, including flashings, fascias, soffits, gutters, downpipes, building services including plumbing, heating, ventilation, electrical services, telecommunications, painting and decoration needed because of the work, extensions in accordance with planning regulations and as part of a wider refurbishment, necessary external works and site development works carried out within the area of the site and professional services associated with works

The local authority will do a cost assessment and provide funding within any limits set out by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.