Croi Conaithe (Towns) - Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

heddie77

There are alot or hidden things you have no idea !! It's like signing your home over to the council basically and man do they make you work for that money ..

heddie77

Your mortgage bank has first legal charge basically and council will have second but should you wish to re mortgage in the 10 years you need approval from council which is total BS. Your mortgage bank have to sign a letter of consent re charge. Luckily my solicitor spotted all of these future problems and made them agree conditions but ita more delays for us...

TessC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120893776#Comment_120893776

Is this referring to the legal side or does the council stipulate certain work that has to be done under the grant? I'm only at the application stage, so still trying to work out if it's worth going forward with.

sabpb

Hi folks 

Myself & my partner are potentially buying a house that we’d be applying for the vacant property grant for.

Hoping to get peoples experiences on a couple of things-

We won’t have enough money to get the house fully finished & claim the grant so we were hoping to get a bridging loan to add to what we have and then pay it back when we get the grant. Has anyone done this?

Im reading a lot about people waiting ages to get payment once the work is finished. This would be a big concern if we were relying on the grant to pay back a loan within a certain timeframe. The person I’ve been dealing with in our local Coco (Sligo) has said once we’re moved in and inspection done we’d get the money in 4-8 weeks. Has anyone been paid in that timeframe?

Thanks!

Scoobydoobydoo101

What are people submitting as proof if they are going the DIY route,?

Also, any apply for solar panels as part of the grant?

p576131

Hi everyone,

This has been a great thread to read through with lots of helpful info. I’m a FTB currently looking at a property that would qualify for the vacant home grant and needs some work done to it in fairness. Reading the thread it seems the County Council’s charge on the property seems to be an issue with the mortgage providers.

I had a chat this week with BOI but currently they don’t know how to handle the second legal charge on the property - they’re awaiting correspondence on how BOI plan to deal with them.

Does anyone know of any banks that are supporting the Vacant home grant?

thanks!

lstmd

Hi everyone,

I own a derelict house and am not sure where to start. Planning permission, application for derelict house grant or which other tasks I need to complete?

can I get also get a one stop shop SEAI grant as well as the derelict property grant?

thanks

mickdw

Is an existing eircode a requirement to apply for these grants?

Designator

Hi all,This is something Im looking into but finding it hard to figure out what Im eligible for or not. I bought a house 5 years ago which was previously vacant, for how long I dont know but could have been two years or more. I have been living here now for about 4 years and have been refurbishing it bit by bit myself. I am the sole occupant and the person that owns the mortgage on it. It is an old house approximately built in the late 1800's and has stone walls, etc. So just curious as to what if any grants are available for this house?

Dozz

@Designator I don't think you are eligible for the Vacant Home Grant as you have lived in it already. You should be eligible for the SEAI Grants though

Designator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120957968#Comment_120957968

Are those the grants such as insulation grants, home heating grants etc? I think those grants only cover partial cost of the works if Im correct yes?

Dozz

Yes you are correct

Designator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120957968#Comment_120957968

I see the seai grants offer €6,000 for external insulation on a house type of mine. Do you know is the €6,000 just to partially cover the cost or is the cost the €6,000 fully and it’s fully covered by the grant?

Dozz

@Designator to the best of my knowledge if it costs you €6k to externally insulate your house SEAI will give you €6k. If it costs you more €6k is the max you get

Dr.Tom

I spoke to a valuer at my local auctioneer last Friday.

Since the grant was announced they are aware of only one client of theirs getting a grant, having sold many houses which the buyers applied for grants for.

This is Cork County Council area.

Its not a black and white process.

Designator

Another query on this . Separate from my house I’m refurbishing .

my mother has a shop she owns that she has been working out of for over 50 years now, she’s now contemplating retirement and repurposing the premises. This shop has only ever been used for business purposes and was never lived in or built for this purpose. So we are looking into refurbishing it into a liveable dwelling to rent out , it’ll need to be rewired and totally reworked inside and outside and plumbed up for toilets etc as there was never a toilet there. Probably will only keep the back and side walls, flat roof so will need that done too. But seeing as it was never lived in even though it has been used as a business premises the last 50 years, would she be eligible for a grant to help refurbish it into a suitable dwelling?

GerardKeating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119934790#Comment_119934790

Not necessarily, some policies will cover that.

Meathlass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120910213#Comment_120910213

I'm sale agreed, don't have enough savings to cover renovations so am applying for vacant homes grant. BOI are insisting that I have the grant approval in place before they will issue loan offer so they definitely seem to be supporting it. There's been no mention of their having any issue with the Council having a legal charge on the house.

p576131

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120975508#Comment_120975508

That’s interesting and good to know. Seems like it depends on the person you speak to?

When I spoke to the advisor she told me BOI wouldn’t allowed the second charge on the property. I’ll follow up today

danielle2023

Hi, this is a really helpful thread. I'm hoping to get the grant for a derelict property but waiting on drawings to properly list the costs but would like to hear from anyone who has been successful about positives/challenges/lessons learnt in obtaining the grant.

steve_C1

Hi, anyone know if you can apply for solar through this scheme (instead of SEAI)?

Anyone been told by local authority?

Wording in the grant isn't clear, one interpretation is that you can but can't double grant another is that anything covered by SEAI can't be applied for under vacant home grant 🤔.

Thanks.

Dozz

@steve_C1 doubtful. But contact your local Vacant Homes officer to confirm.

Grant is available through SEAI so my interpretation is that you couldn't claim through Croi Conaithe Grant

GottaGetGatt

Has anyone here actually received the grant?

PeterTork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120699357#Comment_120699357

Hi, is this still going? Am interested in joining, please. I messaged you a number of days ago.

Saulgudman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120999269#Comment_120999269

yeah id love to know this also

7276887e

Hi guys. I'm currently going through a seperation. There's an old property in my parents site that hasn't been lived in in 20 years or more. My question is, if I apply and get the grant are my parents liable for any taxes or likely to have medical card or any things taken away from them? The property is in my mother's name.

HairyCabbage

Apologies if this has been asked before. How long does it usually take to hear if you've been approved in principle for the grant? We're looking at a property but wouldn't be interested in buying it if we didn't know we'd get the grant. The property is within Dublin City Council remit. Do different councils have different wait times?

Carfacemandog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120713035#Comment_120713035

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown officer for this told me a solicitors letter from the people we are buying from would suffice, as they are executors for the grandmother who died about 4 years back. The sellers later let us know they can also give two years of electricity bills, as the same officer had said very low usage on these would also show inoccupancy.

They are very easy things for the seller to arrange, so maybe sit on finalising any contracts etc until these are supplied.

chancer007

Hi,

I also inherited a derelict house in Co Meath.

From what I have read, I need to fill in application form with proof of ownership/engineer report etc..wait for approval..then pay the builders & claim back from Council once officially signed off on. Sounds straight forward in theory! but this thread is telling me otherwise.

My concern is getting a bridging loan, bank is obviously the first port of call, or is their other financial companies that specialize in bridging loans? I have already paid CAT on the property.

Great info in this thread.

Br

Saulgudman

Hi all. hoping someone who's site was already visited may be able to advise here.

The local county council office seem unable to confirm prior to visiting the site.

Are you allowed knock and rebuild some /all the existing walls of the property or must they simply be repaired / restored? house is in bad shape structurally with lots of cracks . im wondering is it possible to knock and rebuild a gable end and part of front wall of house and still qualify for the grant?

it seems to be very difficult to get this confirmation of what exact works qualify prior to site visits.