Over 550 applications submitted in Tipperary for grants to turn vacant properties into homes

A big demand in Tipperary for Croí Cónaithe grants that assist with renovating vacant and derelict buildings was highlighted at a council meeting where it was revealed over 550 applications from across the county have been submitted for the financial aid.

Croí Cónaithe is a Government grant scheme that assists with refurbishing properties for use as residential homes.
Approved applicants can receive grants of up to €50,000 with an extra €20,000 available where an engineer certifies the building as derelict or dangerous.

Tipperary County Council Town Regeneration Officer Shane Grogan outlined at the Council’s latest monthly meeting that 554 Croí Cónaithe grant applications have been received by the local authority with a potential value of €23 million.

So far, 412 of these applications have been approved and grants have been paid out to 64 approved applicants.
Thirty-three of the applications were refused.

“Tipperary is consistently in the top six of all local authorities across the country when it comes to the implementation of the grant,” Mr Grogan pointed out.

Mr Grogan said the Council has an ongoing programme of engagement with property owners about vacant properties including advice on how to bring them back into use.

Councillors were asked at the meeting to spread the word among constituents about the grant schemes available for refurbishing vacant properties.

Mr Grogan outlined that the Council has a rolling fund in place, financed by the Urban Regeneration Development Fund, to help bring vacant properties backs into use in the key towns of Clonmel, Thurles and Nenagh.

There are 77 vacant properties in these three towns on the council’s list to get back into use. Twenty-two are in the process of being brought back into use and 16 are no longer vacant.

The Council is working to identify the owners of 39 of the buildings and has secured support from the Government to begin adding more properties to the list.

Repair & Leasing

He also reported that 20 properties in the county have been renovated for use as homes for people on the social housing list with the help of funding from the Repair & Leasing Scheme.

Three of the properties are in Clonmel and the remainder are in Thurles and Nenagh.

A further 37 properties around the county are under renovation with the help of Repair & Leasing scheme finance. Nine of these are in Clonmel and four are in Carrick-on-Suir.

Clonmel Fianna Fáil Cllr Siobhán Ambrose described Croí Cónaithe as a “phenomenal” scheme which is going to be of huge benefit to energising the redevelopment of old properties.

Carrick-on-Suir Sinn Féin David Dunne pointed out that a number of YouTubers from abroad were using Croí Cónaithe grants to do up old properties in Ireland.

He asked what rules were in place for people from outside the country seeking the grant and wondered how their tax compliance can be checked.

He advocated a more strict approach to the owners of buildings left derelict for years and the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders by the Council to purchase such buildings.

“We can’t let people sit on derelict sites for years and years and then a grandson rocks up and avails of the Croí Cónaithe grant,” he said.

He was echoing party colleague Cllr Annemarie Ryan from Tipperary Town who earlier at the meeting called on the Council to CPO long term derelict properties where it has exhausted every opportunity to get them back into use.

The Council’s Director of Planning Services Sharon Kennedy responded that compulsory purchase of properties can be used very successfully but the Council is trying to put an equal emphasis on using the “carrot” approach in offering grants like, Croí Cónaithe and Repair and Leasing.

Where there are persistent derelict sites, the Council will, if necessary, CPO them but it had to make sure it went through all the steps properly, she said.