Croi Conaithe (Towns) - Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

Hi has anyone any success with this. Just got keys on property that has been vacant for what I’ve been told nearly five years but am struggling to prove it. Estate agent told us but I need to prove it with a formal letter. No luck from solicitors. Any advise

our property was vacant 2 years lady was in a nursing home.. we were approved with not much difficulty we had to provide estimates for everything basically to say the works will cost over 30k ,.,

Hi,

How did you prove that the property was vacant ? I have requested usage from Electric Ireland for the property we wish to refurbish but they said they do not provide that information anymore.

Many thanks.

Many thanks for your help on this. Ours was a probate sale and the estate was selling the property. I think I will send in the application as you suggested that the sellers we at a different address. Best of luck with the application.

This is exaxtly what ours was the lady in the nursing home died and it was left to her 2 kids.. so i sent in the grant of probate with the application to prove she had died and had not been living there some time and the kids had separate addresses. this seemed to work for us! Good luck

unless it was derelict the max they offer is 30k .. derelict homes are up to 50k

My understanding and open to correction is that the house must be vacant at least 24 months prior to applying for the grant, I would probably allow the inspectors to come and visit the property prior to moving in as you want the optics of it all to be 100% plus you have to show evidence of nobody having been there over that preceding 2 year period. This may not be possible in your circumstances.

oh yes i think you can live there no problem we were lucky to have a cheap rental nearby but im sure most people do need to move in asap.

Thank you. I will send in the application and see how it goes !

Has anyone got approved and got payment from the grant? I have applied and got told it will take a few weeks for an inspector to visit the house and until then I shouldn't make more renovations as any renovations already complete won't be payable under the grant.

Just applied for this grant.

Does anyone know how long it takes to be approved or how long it takes to have the place inspected?

House is in Dublin, and like most people we will need to move in ASAP :/

I submitted my application to Dlrcoco mid Jan. I haven't got an inspection date yet. I was told it would be around the end of Feb. No date yet. Told to stop working on the house until the inspection. I think they need to change that rule, surely from the date of application, any works being done or materials purchased should be applicable to recoupe from the grant.

I think the process needs a serious rejig for the application process and wait times and definitely more staff allocated towards inspections. Having to wait 8 to 12 weeks for an inspection is madness when waiting is clearly costing money with renting and also paying a mortgage.

Yes i am in a somewhat similar situation. 1st time buyers of a 1930's traditional farmhouse and got the keys October Weekend 2022. Moved in during November 2022 as lets be real .. cant afford rent on a property and mortgage on another and general bills at the same time. I was made aware of this grant in December 2022 and got onto my local coco about it for more info. I am applying for the refurbishment grant and not the derelict grant. She said it sounded like we are eligible. so after Christmas in January 2023 i got my quotations for the application and sent all information needed in. I've just been informed we do not qualify as we are living in the property. But i am now appealing it and going to challenge this because nowhere on their application or on the information for this grant does it state that one cannot live in the property during the application or refurbishment process. The conditions outlined state that the house must of been vacant for 2 or more years preceding the application which our was. the house must of been built prior to 1993 which our was, the house must be our primary private residence after refurbishment which ours will be of course. I have spoken to a few local county councillors in my area who are in agreement with me that nowhere does it state on the application or on their information that one cannot move into their house during the application process and refurb process and they are going to be supporting me in my appeal.

There are many people like us in this situation and everyone needs to appeal and shout from the rooftops. What do the government expect? We live in tents in the garden for a few months to a year in order to qualify for the grant? This money is there to be given to people like us and since this scheme has been made available they have not issued any money to anyone yet as per an article i read 2 weeks ago.

They are going to have to change their stance on this and pressure needs to be put on so get onto your local councillors and TD's

Also are electricians/roofers etc. happy to do the work and wait for the grant to come through before they get paid?

Hi, can anybody recommend a builder that would cover the Kerry area. Have gotten approval for the grant after sending back quotes. The individual quotes go a good bit over the 50k allocated. Feel if we had one builder to cover everything the grant money would go a lot further? Have 18 months to get the work complete.

Anyone else completely loosing all hope in their local council? We had our inspection 16th February and were told on the day that we would have a decision letter within 2 weeks. Of coarse that didn’t happen. I emailed them to follow up and they requested information I had already sent to them (tax clearance for contractors) they then confirmed they had all documentation they needed and I could expect a decision letter early the following week. It’s been 2 weeks since, still no letter!! I followed up again to be told my application is still being assessed!!!

How long did it take you, start to finish? What did they come back on?

My post won’t go through on the Reddit but the whole scheme sounds like a shambles based on my own experience to date and what’s being talked about there. Usual government disaster.

We applied at the end of November and had to go back and forth with paperwork, an engineers report was requested as it turned out the roof is structurally unsound which was noted by a council inspector which I got back. We got acceptance at the end of February for roof and interior as the quotations exceeded the allotted amount we got the full allowance, will have to supplement it myself. Roofer hopefully starting next month, we have 18 months for completion from the point of acceptance.

Cheers thanks for the info. How long after you submitted the application did you get an inspector out there? From my understanding, the inspector will give you a good idea if you’ll have any issues getting the grant.I’ve just gone past the three week mark and no peep. Going to give them a call on Tuesday good to hear you’re making progress though

@Miss123

Did you have to request consent from your mortgage provider regarding the legal charge that will be held on the property due to the grant? If you did, how did that go?

We are waiting for our application to be assessed but were told in the meantime to request this consent from our bank.

Also, were you waiting long after the inspection to hear if you were formally approved and for how much?

Thanks!

@Miss123 That’s so frustrating! Are you still holding off getting any work done until you receive the final decision?

We sent our application in 5 weeks ago tomorrow and haven’t heard a thing. Have called several times and we keep being told it will probably be a few weeks.

We’re now paying both a mortgage and rent in Dublin, can’t afford to do it for much longer. Losing all hope in the grant at this point.