The good news for anyone looking to renovate a property is that there are grants available to help.
The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is worth €50,000 if a building has been empty for more than two years – or €70,000 where it is completely derelict – towards the cost of turning it back into a habitable home.
The grant can also be used to renovate vacant and derelict properties that have never been used as residential properties before, if you’re converting, say, an old retail unit, office or pub into a home, once the correct planning permission is in place.
If the property is located on an offshore island, it’s even more generous, with up to €84,000 available.
And if it is of a traditional style, either a town house or farmhouse, you could qualify for an additional grant of up to €5,000 towards the cost of hiring a conservation expert to advise you on how best to refurbish it.
The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund, with applications made via your local authority, typically online.
To qualify, the property must not alone have been vacant for at least two years, it must have been built before 2008, and you must own or be in the process of buying it.
You must also live on the property as your principal private residence once the work is finished, or make it available to rent. If the latter, you must register the tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board.
The grant is not open to registered companies or developers but ordinary folk can get it twice – once for a home to live in, and another for a home you are going to rent out.
Other supports
If you see a run down or vacant property with potential, it’s worth checking out the Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan too, which was introduced last summer and is an extension of the existing Local Authority Home Loan.
To qualify for this you must first qualify for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.
The loan itself has two parts, a fixed-rate mortgage loan and a variable-rate bridging loan, the latter being for the amount you’ve been approved for under the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.
Any renovation will likely cost more than the grant, with the additional cost being on you. But there are other supports which can help. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Better Energy Homes Grant Scheme can for example help defray the cost of insulation, as well as the installation of a heat pump or solar panels.
Works limits
The amount of money you can apply for under the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant depends on the kind of work you are undertaking and must be approved before any work begins. It’s also cost-assessed by your local authority.
If you take a derelict property, for example, you can use the full amount, €70,000, towards demolition work and site clearance, or substructure works including work to foundations, rising walls, floor slabs, damp proofing and underpinning.
You can also use the full amount towards superstructure works including works to walls, chimneys, upper floors, stairs, roof structure or structural timbers.
The limit for external completions including doors, windows and windowsills is €21,000.
For internal completions including doors, frames, architraves and ironmongery, it’s €7,000 and you can spend up to €10,500 on painting and decorating. All amounts are inclusive of works VAT and you can’t divvy up the grant to spend more than the limit on any of the full range of specified activities.
To get the vacant or derelict property grant you have to prove the property is just that. If you can’t secure utility bills to show the period for which it has been empty, a signed affidavit may be accepted. You’ll also need to prove that you own the property or are in the process of trying to buy it, as well as any planning permissions required.
If a property is not already on the Derelict Sites Register, you will need a report from a qualified professional to say the property is indeed derelict.
You’ll also need a quote for the work and to sign a form agreeing to repay the local authority all or part of the grant if you sell the home within 10 years, or if you rent it out when you had agreed to live there.
You can find out more information about how to reuse old and vacant buildings in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Bringing Back Homes manual for the reuse of existing buildings.
But the best place to find out if you, or the building you are keen on, qualify for the grant, is by contacting the Vacant Homes Officers in your local council. A full list of contact details is available at gov.ie.
