Room to Improve (v2)

Widdensushi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627126#Comment_121627126

Surely that extension couldn't be exempt.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627146#Comment_121627146

Even more concrete than that, it's the Department of Housing that is saying that it was approved. That's a big shock to me.

techman1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617134#Comment_121617134

Didn't eamon Ryan say alot of public sector workers only working 2 days in office, he said that because he wants to phase out free parking spaces.

If that is the culture, then presumably council staff don't really want to be going around inspecting houses are actually vacant. You can't do that from home. Before they just wanted to stay in the office now you can't even get them into the office.

I'd say the same culture permeates the department of integration, they seem to be taking the path of least resistance in granting the vast majority of asylum cases as genuine in stark contrast to their European contemporaries

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121623484#Comment_121623484

Its going to go down in RTE like the "try it sometime." interview :)

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121624669#Comment_121624669

Or pretend you are staying with a relative and stay in the house. Save yourself another 36k

threetrees

This will be the last RTI IMO.

First 2 episodes based on grants and the second with no PP. I don't care what angle DB takes, no builder should undertake work without PP. I accept his point that the initial extension was exempt as it was at the back and under the area limit but the roof line window was outside limits and should not have been completed.

I think it portrays bad practice and will do DB architects business some damage. Isn't one to trust their architect?

Having been through a simple PP process myself where additional information was required, there was no way my small time builder would undertake my build without everything done. We pushed out our build date because of the small delay in PP. Why is DB and RTE so different?

Just my opinion.

Was a lovely house in the end :)

Trampas

I heard from someone who applied for the show that the min budget is 250k with 100k contingency. I presume the contingency is based on grants. Since bannon knows this then he or his team behind are designing based on this. Seems to be different this year is that bannon is around more and decisions are getting made or they’ve removed that stuff

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121625633#Comment_121625633

His definition of derelict is different to everyone else, in order to get the grant. Such brass neck, at the expense of the rest of us who do not have "pull" with the minister or fellow in the council who makes the decisions.

Look at this house.

https://www.maherauctioneers.ie/la-palomera-cashel-co-tipperary.html

If that is derelict I will eat my hat.

Tubs left RTE and went to England over much less. I reckon Bannon has either an explanation or an apology to the nation to make.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627146#Comment_121627146

Approval happens early on. Payout only after everything in order. Seeing as Bannon submitted a retention application, in sure he wouldnt issue certification that the works were exempt and did not need planning in order to get grant payout.

The only way the grants could possibly be paid out at this stage is if they completed the single storey extension first and issued certification stating exempt from planning and got grant, Then did the 1st floor but imo dormer box would need planning so unlikely to have gone that way.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627365#Comment_121627365

If all on the ground was less than 40 sqm increase over the original floor area, it could have been, Subject to everything else being satisfactory.

Trampas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627002#Comment_121627002

He is under Noel Kelly like tubs so Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628028#Comment_121628028

The fact that an architect needs an agent kinda sums up a lot.

boardlady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121619603#Comment_121619603

My husband wondered was the roof asbestos (we didn't watch it all so may have missed an explanation) but when they originally bought the house, assuming they used a mortgage, the bank would have insisted that they have an engineer's report confirming that the house was structurally sound and habitable. And yet, as folks are saying, it is now "derelict"? These are issues that should certainly be highlighted now! My own home is 24 years old. It was a new build then and is far from 'derelict' or uninhabitable. We are very warm and comfortable. But yes, I would like to make certain changes and upgrades - which I can't afford. It does gall a bit to think that my bog-standard home - which is perfectly sufficient to house me and my family - will never be 'upgraded' to the dizzy heights of this house which has qualified for grants every taxpayer is contributing to. I have to admit to looking at the social housing which has been built recently in my local town .. air to water heating, probably A rated ... and yes, I doubt I will ever afford to make those upgrades. Watch this space for a public outcry I think!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627570#Comment_121627570

Yes but…

Dept are saying it was approved which means that it met the criteria, for it to have been approved a declaration was made that it met the guidelines including derelict / vacant for 2 years which from the posts on here is looks like it wasn’t.

i have no idea of the audit process here but on the basis of evidence we see the grant form was not completed honestly.

government departments rely heavily on honesty such as self employed tax returns are accepted in good faith and not always checked by revenue outside of a random revenue audit or medical cards applications etc etc (you could withhold savings).

it’s simply not possible nor practicle for every form to be fully audited by the civil service.

There are penalties for lies and hopefully this case will be investigated thouroughly. If it turns out there was dishonestly then they should pay it back and let them sue their advisor bannon but guess he has himself well covered.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628102#Comment_121628102

it’s simply not possible nor practical

...for people to be making assumptions on stuff they cannot possibly know.

1. What was wrong with the roof and why it was deemed unsound.
2. Did the house meet the criteria of 'derelict' or 'vacant' as per the rules not their personal definitions of the terms.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628077#Comment_121628077

The banks don’t insist on an Engineers report confirming that the house is structurally sound or habitable. The banks get it valued to ensure it’s worth the amount of money they’re lending for it. An Engineers report is something that’s advisable for the person buying the house.

Apologies for picking on your post because a person could go to every second post here and pick out similar points which are presented as fact but are not correct at all and thats not even including all the “my cousins wife’s brother’s neighbour applied for the same grant but was turned down even though ……” posts.

gipi

Regarding where they might have got funding, they sold a house to buy the bungalow.

Her mother also passed away since 2020, so there might have been an inheritance.

Both mentioned in this article

https://www.irishexaminer.com/property/homeandgardens/arid-41309014.html

maynooth_rules

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121626681#Comment_121626681

That was the original premise of the show. Its jumped the shark now. Crazy amounts of money, and still you have Dermot turning his nose up saying '€250,000 is quite a small budget.'

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628225#Comment_121628225

Interesting in that article in the examiner ( although it reads more like a press release from the tv producers) the Quantity surveyor Claire said

"We got €98,000 worth of grants"

So there you have it. They did not even have full planning permission for the development but they "got €98,000 worth of grants". Not are getting them, or will get them, but "got".

Wonder if Dermot's meeting with the minister was just to speed things up to make sure they were got?

In episode 1 he told the couple they're eligible for €30k help to buy tax back...they weren't.

Episode 2 he says they're eligible for grants which appear to be dubious.

He gets the couples all excited that they can now afford more, so they commit to going over budget.

His final fee, paid by RTE, is quite possibly based on the total construction spend. So he is incentivised to get the couple to spend such as possible on the build.

DB could be the 2024 version of Tubridy if a journalist goes on a run with this.

harr

They mentioned getting the grants and all was sorted on that front but also mentioned the builder was happy to meet the shortfall till the grants arrived . So were they just approved and hadn’t received them or was it they were waiting for them to be approved and his meeting with minister was push the process along . It all seems very cloak and dagger..

No way in hell any builder would take risk unless he was guaranteed in writing that the money was in the way.

neighbour of mine bought a house which hadn’t been lived in for about 10 years , a lot of water damage and internals need gutting. He was telling me the absolute hassle and hoops he is jumping through to even get the vacant home grant is madness ( kildare county council) . They are looking for all sorts of proof it has been lived . He even invited county council officials to inspect the house and still getting no where. RTI making out it’s a simple process , definitely a few strokes pulled to get the €100,000

gipi

28k of the grant was the SEAI energy upgrade grant, not related to the vacant\derelict debate.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628640#Comment_121628640

28 k on what the design team bragged was "essentially a New-Build". Does not seem a great use of taxpayers money, or what the grant was intended for, but we are all letting that 28k go. And in both episodes this year, the more grants the couples discovered they would get, the fancier the Dermot Bannon glass box extensions got.

What gets up peoples goat though is the cloak 'n daggers stuff with the minister (and without full planning) to get the grant for Vacant and Derelict homes, when the neighbours and everyone else know the bungalow ( sold for 303k in 2022 ) was neither vacant or derelict? This while other people in the country cannot get the grant to do what Dermot done?

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628715#Comment_121628715

was neither vacant or derelict?

I suppose if you keep saying it, it will eventually be true.

You have been corrected on this multiple times.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121616276#Comment_121616276

Wow,what a nasty and snide comment.

I agree lots of girls overdo it on the fake tan,it's not a good look I agree.

I don't think that lady was an example of that though.I thought she looked gorgeous but what came across most was her lovely bubbly personality.She seemed a sound skin and the husband too.

Bare in mind it's likely the couple and their friends and family might see this thread.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628761#Comment_121628761

You have been corrected on it. I would say most people on this thread were / are of the opinion there are serious questions to be asked, and serious doubts about the property being really vacant or derelict. Ask the neighbours there, they can tell you too. The house was only sold in mid 2022.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628792#Comment_121628792

I agree peoples appearance should not come in to it. People look at the show to find out information about grants, renovations, ideas "to let more light in etc". Many people would also like to see more info on the new BER rating ( thats the whole purpose of the 28k grant? - and Dermot said the whole series was about grants), what type new heating system ( we saw no solar panels?) was installed etc.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628858#Comment_121628858

No I haven't 'been corrected'

A property can be deemed derelict if it deemed to be unsafe.

This property's roof was deemed unsafe.

All you have is guesswork and conspiracy. And a refusal to accept your definition is different to the definition sought by the grant administrators.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121626681#Comment_121626681

Home Rescue on RTE fits the bill for this.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121628892#Comment_121628892

Really Francie?? I think you're putting yerself way out on a limb here. This saga has legs.

freshpopcorn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121629129#Comment_121629129

Well if we're talking about the same program. I don't think it does.

Home recue is decluttering and them redecorating and adding furniture.

They might knock a wall or close up a door.

There's never any mention of how they heat the room, upgrading insulations, etc.