Anyone have experience of dealing with Protected Structures

paulocon

Hi,

I am the owner of a thatched cottage which is listed as a Protected Structure.
The cottage has been uninhabited for some time now and is in bad need of repair. Ideally in the long term, I'd like to restore it to it's original condition and perhaps have it as a holiday let.

Just to see if anyone has any experience of refurbishment of such a structure and if you can offer any advice of the grants and assistance available for such a project.

I assume I'll need to speak with a Conservation Architect and see what my options are?

Thanks in advance for any help..

archtech

paulocon wrote: »

Hi,

I am the owner of a thatched cottage which is listed as a Protected Structure.
The cottage has been uninhabited for some time now and is in bad need of repair. Ideally in the long term, I'd like to restore it to it's original condition and perhaps have it as a holiday let.

Just to see if anyone has any experience of refurbishment of such a structure and if you can offer any advice of the grants and assistance available for such a project.

I assume I'll need to speak with a Conservation Architect and see what my options are?

Thanks in advance for any help..

there are other professionals other than a conservation architect whom would be more than capable of looking after the job, however who ever you engage they should have experience in dealing with protected structures.

Most local authorities do have some small grants (referred to conservation grants) for the maintenance and repair of protected structures which they advertise annually. There are a lot of conditions attached to the works, so often guys don't avail of them.

icbarros

Hi,
Check this for thatching grants http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/HousingGrantsFinancialAssistance/ThatchingGrants/

Where is the cottage?

I have experience with protected structures. PM if you need further help.

paulocon

icbarros wrote: »

Hi,
Check this for thatching grants http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/HousingGrantsFinancialAssistance/ThatchingGrants/

Where is the cottage?

I have experience with protected structures. PM if you need further help.

Thanks for that. I had a look at that particular grant but it is for owner occupied properties - this particular one won't be owner occupied.

In the North-East of the country.

icbarros

Sorry about that, I missed the part where you said the cottage was uninhabitable.

There are a couple of other conservation grants that you may be entitled to. Check http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/ArchitecturalProtectionandHeritagePolicy/Grants/

paulocon

icbarros wrote: »

Sorry about that, I missed the part where you said the cottage was uninhabitable.

There are a couple of other conservation grants that you may be entitled to. Check http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/ArchitecturalProtectionandHeritagePolicy/Grants/

Thanks for the help on that - much appreciated.

You said you had some experience of working on such projects. Like I said, I cannot see anyone living full-time in the cottage. Having said that, I feel the best way to preserve it would be to have it occupied even on a part-time basis.

What I would like to do is restore it to it's previous state with the possibility of using it as a holiday let (it's in quite a popular tourist region). This is probably a contradiction as restoration would imply that it wouldn't be suitable for a holiday let. Have you come across any cases where restored properties have been used in such a matter and how would the council/grant bodies view this?

icbarros

paulocon wrote: »

Have you come across any cases where restored properties have been used in such a matter

No.

paulocon wrote: »

and how would the council/grant bodies view this?

edit: possible rule breach

be very careful

syd

sydthebeat

icbarros wrote: »

No.



edit: possible rule breach

icbarros, Be careful here, do not break any charter rules (have a read if you are unsure).

The question here is in regard to making the building habitable and the relevant legislative and regulative structures that need to be met. Whether or not someone lives in it full time i snot really the matter. Its use as a holiday home will mean other legislative structures need to be met.

If a grant requires the applicant to be an owner occupier than so be it.

paulocon

sydthebeat wrote: »

icbarros, Be careful here, do not break any charter rules (have a read if you are unsure).

The question here is in regard to making the building habitable and the relevant legislative and regulative structures that need to be met. Whether or not someone lives in it full time i snot really the matter. Its use as a holiday home will mean other legislative structures need to be met.

If a grant requires the applicant to be an owner occupier than so be it.

Maybe a bit of crossed wires there - if the grant requires owner-occupation then it won't be for me as I certainly don't envisage myself living in it.

What I was wondering is how compatible the notion of restoring such a property would be with the possibility of having it as a holiday let - maybe the regulative requirements would mean that a fully restored property would simply not be suitable for such a use (lack of modern comforts etc)...

At the end of the day, there is obviously a cost involved with restoring this property and I'd like to explore ways of making it some way self-sufficient going forward.

This is probably something I'd need to take up with the local authority. I have spoken to them briefly and they recommended involving a conservation architect so I suppose that's my next step..

sydthebeat

paulocon wrote: »

What I was wondering is how compatible the notion of restoring such a property would be with the possibility of having it as a holiday let - maybe the regulative requirements would mean that a fully restored property would simply not be suitable for such a use (lack of modern comforts etc)...
.

The MINIMUM requirement is that the dwelling be habitable AND conform with building regulations.

If it doesnt conform to these as a minimum, it cant be used as anything else....

After that, whether its use is as a holiday home or not, will depend on its compliance with holiday home regulations....

a good place to start is here:

http://www.failteireland.ie/getdoc/48ed7fe8-f686-408f-b36c-2c79bab751a4/Failte_Ireland_Req_Classification_Matrix_Self_-%281%29

and as an aside, the council will generally be favourable to the renovation of derelict dwelling, even if for commercial purposes.
As the dwelling is protected the dept of environments heritage section will have a big input as to the type of renovation allowable, and possibly its use afterwards.

henryporter

You should check with the Local Authorities Conservation Officer to determine the extent of grants available. Note that the onus is on the owner of a Protected Structure to ensure that the building does not fall into disrepair beyond it's condition when protection was implemented.

Building conservation grants typically are provided to assist owners of Protected Structures in repair where the need for specialist trades and professional advice would cause the repair costs to exceed those normally required to repair an unprotected structure, i.e. the grants don't pay for the work, but for the additional costs involved in such work, so normally a building conservation grant would cover 50% of the cost of the repairs up to a maximum of approximately €12,000 (depending on which local authority you're dealing with)

Also have a look at http://www.ecobooley.com/ which is not thatched but gives you an idea of the potential for restoring an old cottage for holiday rental purposes.

Wonky Knees

I'd also take a look at the Georgian Society website. It has a list of people nation-wide involved in restoration and conservation.

Mellor

paulocon wrote: »

What I was wondering is how compatible the notion of restoring such a property would be with the possibility of having it as a holiday let - maybe the regulative requirements would mean that a fully restored property would simply not be suitable for such a use (lack of modern comforts etc)...

i think this appears to be the problem.
Yes, it's true that restoration to its original state would leave it unsuitable for use as a holiday home.

But restoration (in a strict sense of the word) isn't the only option. It's perfectly acceptable to convert to a existing use while preserving as much as possible of the exist (not original) structure.