Less than half of Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant applications in Louth approved

Just 49 out of 123 applications submitted to Louth County Council for a Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant have been approved, with funding issued to just one approved applicant to date, according to latest figures available from the local authority.

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, funded by the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund was launched in July 2022 and was further expanded from 1 May 2023.

The grant provides funding to refurbish vacant and derelict homes. It can also be used to renovate vacant and derelict properties that have not been used as residential properties before. This only applies if these non-residential properties were previously used for commercial or public use and now have the correct planning permission.

A grant of up to €50,000 is available to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000, if the property is derelict.

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund and can be applied for through the local authority. 

According to the latest data from Louth County Council, 123 applications have been submitted to date for the grant. Of this, 49 have been approved and six rejected. Eight have been withdrawn and funding has been issued to one applicant.

One of the conditions when applying for the grant is that the applicant must live in the property as their principal private residence when the work is completed, or make it available for rent.

Of the 123 applications made to Louth County Council for the grant, 31 are for rental properties and 92 are for a principal private residence.