SHOCKING: Just FOUR vacant property refurbishment grants issued so far this year

JUST four vacant property refurbishment grants have been issued in 2023. 

That's according to a quarterly report released today (July 17) by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which shows just one grant was issued between January 1 and March 31 this year, and a further three between April 1 and June 30. 

No grants were issued throughout 2022. 

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant (worth up to €50,000) is available to eligible applicants for the refurbishment of their property into a permanent home or rental property. 

A top-up grant of €20,000 is also available for derelict properties (bringing the total grant to €70,000). 

Each local authority receives and reviews applications to ensure grant conditions are met. 

Once approval has been granted, property owners are given 13 months to complete the works, after which the grant will be paid following a successful inspection. 

According to today's Quarter Two report - which covers the period between April 1 and June 30 - just 1,120 grant applications were submitted nationwide (597 for vacant homes, 500 for derelict homes), with a total of 506 approvals. 

Nine hundred and forty seven applications were reportedly submitted between January 1 and March 31. 

This is a large increase on the 801 applications submitted by interested home owners throughout last year, 157 of which received approval, with 73 refusals. 

Applications have been submitted by people from every county in Ireland. 

In 2022, the majority were submitted to Cork County Council (82 applications), followed by Kerry County Council (63), with Cork County Council receiving the most applications this year (117), followed by Galway County Council (83). 

Waterford City and County Council received the fewest applications in 2023 (just one), while Galway City Council received the fewest last year (three applications).