Vacant home grant

Crowley87

We have just purchased a house that has been vacant since April 2023. We plan on undertaking construction work before moving in and it is unlikely we will move in before the summer of 2025. Would this fall under the 2 year rule for the vacant house grant? What do you need to provide as proof that the house has been vacant?

bemak

needs to be 2 years vacant by the time you apply. esb bills showing a lack of use over the 24 months can suffice but every council is different.

Crowley87

Do you have to apply at a certain time in the process. I.e start of planning or start of construction?

bemak

Works have to be completed in 13 months once you get approval. That'll be the deciding factor when you look at your timeline. You'll want your contractor lined up ready to go to get the most out of that 13 months. Can't start until you get approval

old_house

Actually you can start before approval, but any cost incurred before that date will not be considered for the grant. We applied halfway into our project and the council took pictures of the progress at the stage of approval and excluded everything that was in place by then. Might still be better than applying early and then running out of time.

Tcom

We will soon begin a renovation on a house that has been vacant for 2 years. The only thing is that my sister in law stayed in there for 6 weeks during the winter. We also had an issue where the boiler was left on full time and we didn't notice it. Would they look at the average over the last 2 years or I wonder if the usage needs to 0 to get approved?