Possible to get Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant on new build by keeping a wall?

Francis McM

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant provides - or is supposed to provide - funding so you can refurbish vacant and derelict homes.  It is a considerable sum of money as everyone knows. After the room to Improve programme last night, I was chatting with a builder over a cuppa and he said he knows of a new build house being built where there was an old cottage, but the person building the house is keeping one wall of the old cottage. Just one small wall. The person building the house has no emotional attachment or family connection to the old cottage, he just works in the council and bought it and is building a fancy large new house. My friend reckons he is keeping the wall in order to get the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, he said why else would he do it. I said no, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant does not apply if you knock down 95% of a house.

He even spent 30 seconds or a minute rooting out the plans on the Co. Council website and sure enough a small piece of wall of the old cottage was being kept as part of the new build. Why would someone keep a small part of an old cottage? To settle the friendly argument, is it possible to see a list of those who get the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant?

zell12

Why would someone keep a small part of an old cottage?

Eh, to get the considerable sum of money as everyone knows

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121585994#Comment_121585994

But that is against the rules, because others have asked could they do so but they were told no, they had to keep the structure of the old cottage in order to get the grant. The person in the dept who gives out the grant said it was for environmental reasons etc It is a "Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant". Is there another grant you can get just by keeping a tiny part of an old building, and doing a new build on the old site?  

gipi

Don't you have to keep one wall of an existing building in order to get planning permission for a new build on the same site? I vaguely remember this being a condition a long time ago, don't know if it still applies.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121586183#Comment_121586183

That does not still apply as I know someone who got planning for an new build on the site of an old house without having to keep part of an old wall or anything.

zell12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121586145#Comment_121586145

The same grant https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/256936/bf727a33-a830-4b09-8917-aaf4e324a886.pdf#page=null

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121586636#Comment_121586636

Yes but it says that while demolition and extension can form part of an application for the Vacant Property Refurbishment grant, "such works must be part o a wider refurbishment of the existing dwelling in keeping with the objectives of the scheme" (see bottom of page 10).

If an existing cottage, lived in until a few years ago, was demolished except for part of one wall, it would be taking the proverbial p*ss to claim the existing property was "refurbished" if a new modern house 3 times the size was built on the site in order to avail of the 70k grant?

Is it a common thing to knock everything except for a bit of one wall when building a new build where an old (but liveable in) cottage was, in a built up area (houses each side etc) when planning would not be a problem? Has anyone got the 50k or 70k grant for this?

L1011

The one wall thing is to not have it considered a new house for Local Needs Planning, at least around where I live. Been going on for a lot longer than any grants. Council considered a knock and replace to be a new house and Local Needs applied; keep one wall and its an extension.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121587127#Comment_121587127

I do not think local needs comes in to it, as it is not in a rural area or a green belt/sensitive area. It has other houses each side. The person doing the building got full planning permission to knock the existing cottage and for a new house where the old cottage was. So why is he keeping part of one wall of the old cottage?

For the sake of curiosity / to settle the friendly argument, I wonder is it possible to see a list of those who get the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant anywhere?

buttercup20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121592605#Comment_121592605

Might be of interest- https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/4bbe4-vacant-property-refurbishment-grant-statistics/

kevgaa

Interesting stats, lots of applications in but no payout at all in 2022.

Very little payout in 2023 unless you are in Kildare.

No payout in 2023 for Tipperary yet for a high profile build.