Croi Conaithe (Towns) - Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

@sue191

Do you have a mortgage on your property? If so, did you need to request their consent in relation to the legal charge?

I called our mortgage provider and they won’t issue us with a consent letter.

Just got a similar note from AIB that they won’t provide the consent in the legal charge so therefore essentially prohibiting us from the grant!! What a farce this grant is turning out to be. Not only is it taking ages to get a turnaround on the approval, all the while not being allowed to touch the property, but now the banks won’t let you take advantage of it either. Only this government would promote such BS.

You had your inspection carried out back in February and they’re only coming back to you now to say the original paperwork you provided to prove vacancy is not satisfactory?! That’s shocking. Surely your documents were assessed prior to the inspection.

Which county council have you applied to?

When we were enquiring about the grant, Dublin City Council told us an official solicitor’s letter confirming vacant would suffice.

We actually did submit ESB bills also, and had asked the previous owners for them (through our estate agent). So that could be an option for you. Hopefully the previous owners of your property don’t have an issue providing them to you.

Do you have the previous owner’s solicitor’s details? Probably on your contract. You could reach out to them, explain the situation, provide your contact details and ask them to reach out to previous owner to contact you directly. It’s a long shot but worth trying.

To escalate further I would be speaking with your local councillor/TD. Not sure they will be much use but that will be my next step anyway.

Can you not move into the property because of its current condition or the grant approval being delayed? We were told we could move in once we submitted our application.

Who asked you to provide the BER certificate? Sounds like they’ve mixed this up with the SEAI one stop shop grants where your energy rating needs to be minimum B2 when work is completed. I haven’t seen any mention of this for the Vacant Property grant.

I really hope it’s a mix up. None of the docs online about the Vacant Property Grant mention the requirement to increase your BER to B2. The vast majority of vacant properties would need a hell of a lot more need than 30k or even 50k (if derelict) to get their BER up to that level.

Please keep us posted on this if you enquire further.

has anyone has an issue with their bank accepting there local authority on the mortgage?? seems a grey area. Amazing the rules are changing on 01 May and no detail on new process (or not) has been published!!

Haven’t heard anything about rules changing but there was an announcement yesterday that the scheme is going to be enhanced on Tuesday so we’ll have to tune in then. Although, if they don’t sort out this second charge issue, then it’s all bloody useless to the vast majority of us.

Thats first I’ve heard of an update or an enhancement to the grant. That should be interesting, it can’t get much worse anyway

"The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant will increase from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties. It will be extended to cover houses built up to 2007 and include both rental properties and those occupied by their owners."

Source: https://www.thejournal.ie/housing-development-levies-cabinet-6052558-Apr2023/

I know it’s a fairly new grant but given the amount of applications approved with 0 paid out to end of 2022 is a real eye opener. It’ll be interesting to see the stats for qtr 1 2023.

We were told we could move in to our property once we sent off our application. We didn’t in the end but that’s what we were told by Dublin City Council. At this time there seems to be over 6 weeks wait between getting your application in and when an inspector comes out to see the house. I can’t see how your council would know whether you’d moved in before or after your application was sent. I would say it’s definitely worth the risk! But give your local council a call first.

It seems to vary a bit from council to council so worth checking with yours directly. Utilities were never disconnected in my house either, but it seems like they'll accept proof of low usage as proof of vacancy.

which council was this do you mind me asking?

because of GDPR technically the new house owner has no right to usage details prior to sale??

I oscillate between thinking they’re just sticklers and thinking they literally haven’t a clue how to implement the scheme at all. The guidelines are vague enough on purpose to give property owners hope they qualify and then trying to get an application in and approved is virtually impossible. My local authority won’t respond to any questions about eligibility unless you have an application in already (I asked what they needed for me to prove it was vacant for x months before I bought it) but the answer to the question will dictate whether I’m eligible or not. Never mind the people with mortgages whose banks won’t meet the requirements about registering the charge. I can’t imagine what work experience kid came up with this idea but as usual it is incredibly poorly thought out.

For anyone who uses Instagram, @crazyhouseprices posted today on this grant. A lot of people commented under the post with their experience to date. Interesting to see how everyone else is getting on with it.

@Miss123 No problem! I know, I don’t think I read one positive experience.

We have our inspection tomorrow. I will ask the inspector about the B2 BER requirement your local council mentioned to you and see what they say about it. I’ll keep you posted.

@shivvykxoxo best of luck with your inspection, if you can at all use it to get as much information from the council as possible.

thank you so much that would be brilliant, interesting to see what another councils view is on it. Anyone I’ve spoke to isn’t aware of the BER condition nor can I find it anywhere online. I’ve also asked them 3 times to advise me where I can find it in guidelines / legislation but of coarse they’ve turned on the silent treatment.

@MicktheMan thanks for that! Even the works mentioned on that (wall and roof etc) isn’t related to works which we applied for under the Vacant property grant so it’s confusing to see where the council are getting this from.

Our house has been vacant but not derelict, we aren’t building any extensions or replacing roofs etc.

@Miss123 So our inspector from Dublin City Council came out to see our property today. I asked him about the BER requirement and he said as far as he was aware this does not apply to this grant. He said it’s likely a separate requirement by certain building regulations (probably what MicktheMan posted about) but the local councils shouldn’t be looking for proof of this in terms of paying out the grant. I would 100% be appealing your case if they continue to ask for it.

@shivvykxoxo Thanks so much for asking the inspector. As I thought, doesn’t appear to be a condition of the grant and more so a loop hole to pit applicants through. Hopefully you will get a decision soon, unlike us inspection in February and still none the wiser!

interesting!

Amazing the new scheme was announced as open on 01 May 2023 and the department have not yet an application form out for it 😲