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

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?  

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.

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?

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?