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Know Your Rights has been compiled by Kerry Citizens Information Service which provides a free and confidential service to the public…
What is the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant?
The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant provides funding so you can refurbish vacant and derelict homes. It can also be used to renovate properties that have not been used as residential properties before.
You can get the grant if you are refurbishing the vacant property so you can live there, or so you can rent the property out.
What are the qualifying conditions for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant?
To qualify for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, you must meet the following criteria:
• The property must have been vacant for 2 years or more. You will not qualify if the property has been left unreasonably or purposely vacant so you can get the grant.
• The property must have been built before 2008. (Before 1 May 2023, only homes built before 1993 qualified.)
• You must own the property or be in the process of buying it.
• You must live in the property as your principal private residence when the work is completed, or make it available for rent. If you are going to rent the property when the work is done, you must register the tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board.
• You must have tax clearance from Revenue and your tax affairs must be in order.
• You must have paid your Local Property Tax, if applicable.
• You must not be a registered company or developer.
• You can only get the grant twice. You can get one grant to refurbish a home to live in, and another for a home you are going to rent out.
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How do I prove that the property was vacant?
Utility bills can be used to show that a property has been vacant at a particular time. If you can’t get utility bills for the property, you can provide a signed affidavit stating that the property has been vacant for at least 2 years.
Or, if you have recently bought the property you can get a letter from the seller’s solicitor confirming that the property was vacant.
How much is the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant?
You can get up to €50,000 to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000 if the property is derelict. The grant is inclusive of the VAT cost of the works.
The grant amounts increased on 1 May 2023. If you applied for the grant before the 1 May 2023 and you haven’t got your grant yet, the new grant amounts can be applied.
If you are living on an off-shore island, you can get up to €84,000 to renovate a derelict building or up to €60,000 for a vacant property.
If the renovation costs more than the grant, you will have to pay for this. You can apply to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for the Better Energy Homes Grant Scheme.
This grant helps improve the energy efficiency of your home, by helping with the cost of insulating your home or installing a heat pump or solar panels. Work covered by the SEAI scheme is not covered by the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.
The grant must be approved before any work begins.
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How do I apply for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant?
You should complete the application form and send it to the local authority. You can download the application form or get one from your local Citizens Information Centre. There is a checklist of supporting documents you will need to send in the application form.
The local authority will review your application and documents. They will arrange for a qualified person to visit the property to check that it is possible to do the work and to assess the cost.
The local authority will send you a ‘letter of approval’ if your application is successful. This letter will tell you how much your grant will be.
If you haven’t bought the property yet, you will get a ‘letter of approval in principle’ for the grant. You must sign and return this letter to the local authority, as it forms part of your agreement with the local authority.
You have 13 months to complete the works once your application has been approved
What happens if my application is not successful?
If your application is not successful, you can appeal the decision with the local authority. You should write to them within 3 weeks of the decision, giving the reasons why you are appealing.
Your appeal will be reviewed by someone in the local authority who was not involved in assessing your application. The local authority will contact you with the outcome of this review. This can take up to 6 weeks.
What happens if I don’t want to live in the property or rent it out?
If you got the grant to refurbish a property to live in and then you decide to sell or rent it out within 10 years of getting the grant, you will have to pay the local authority back.
You will have to pay them back for any reason that you are no longer living in the property as your main home within 10 years of getting the grant.
If you got the grant to refurbish a property to rent and you decide to sell the property, or it is no longer available to rent within 10 years of getting the grant, you will also have to pay the local authority back.
The amount you will have to repay depends on how long you’ve lived in the property or rented it out. If you live or rent out your property for:
• Less than 5 years, you have to repay the full amount
• Over 5 years but less than 10, you have to repay 75% of the grant
• More than 10 years, you don’t have to pay back anything
Is there a grant for conservation advice for refurbishing traditional farmhouses?
If you have a traditional farmhouse and want to apply for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, you can get an additional grant of up to €7,500 for expert conservation advice on how to refurbish your vacant property.
The Conservation Advice Grant Scheme for Vacant Traditional Farmhouses was launched on 14 June 2023. Under the Scheme, you can get an experienced conservation expert to complete a survey of your property and write a report with conservation advice on how best to refurbish it
To qualify for the scheme, the property must be a traditional farmhouse or cottage. This means that it is a modest house, built using traditional techniques and local materials, such as thatch, stone, slate, earth, wattle and un-sawn timber.
• For anyone needing information, advice or have an advocacy issue, you can call a member of the local Citizens Information team in Kerry on 0818 07 7860, they will be happy to assist and make an appointment if necessary.
The offices are staffed from Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm. Alternatively you can email on tralee@citinfo.ie or log on to www.citizensinformation.ie for further information.
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