The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant should involve “more money and less bureaucracy”, a housing expert has argued.
Anyone renovating a vacant property in order to make it liveable is entitled to a €50,000 grant from the Government. If the home is derelict, a further €20,000 is available.
So far, some 7,000 vacant or derelict homes have been restored using the grant, at a cost of €400 million to the exchequer.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Property District CEO Carol Tallon described bringing some 7,000 homes back into use as a “real achievement” that all should welcome.
“However, it doesn't go nearly far enough and part of that is because this grant took about two years to even settle into its current form,” she argued.
“It was just too burdensome, the hurdles were too high, it was too prescriptive that people applied, but they just couldn't successfully navigate it.
“There have been changes to make it more accessible, but it's still much too burdensome and quite frankly, it just doesn't touch off the level of vacancy that we have.”
An abandoned old cottage in County Sligo. Picture by: Alamy.comMs Tallon continued that the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant should involve “more money and less bureaucracy”, if it is to encourage more people to renovate old home.
For owners who decline to do so, they are liable to pay Vacant Homes Tax, which applies to all properties which no one has stayed in for less than 30 days in a year.
However, this is a tax that many homeowners avoid paying.
“While this is a policy from central Government, its success in my experience is down to how motivated the team across the local authorities are,” Ms Tallon said.
“That's why it is no surprise to me to see that Donegal County Council are absolutely outperforming all of the other local authorities in this respect.
“They're a local authority that really work closely with their community, they're very embedded in the community.”
Main image A derelict homestead outside Carrickmacross in County Monaghan. Picture by: Alamy.com.
