28 Sep Vacant home refurbishment scheme extended to rural areas from November

Vacant home refurbishment scheme extended to rural areas from November

Mayo Fine Gael TD, Alan Dillon has welcomed confirmation from the Minister for Housing Darragh O Brien that the remit of the new Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund will be expanded this November to include rural areas in order to support first time-buyers to ensure they can get a foothold on the property ladder.

The Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund was introduced in July 2022 which provides a grant of up to a maximum of €30,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence and a maximum top-up grant amount of up to €20,000 will be available where the property is confirmed by the applicant to be derelict, giving a total of €50,000.

Deputy Alan Dillon has received numerous queries about the scheme from people who live in rural areas, outside of towns and villages.

The  Fine Gael TD said, “As a public representative I have rarely seen such a positive response to a government housing initiative as I have seen with the Croí Cónaithe scheme. It prompted numerous calls to my office from people seeking additional information and advice on how they can secure the grant.

“However, the vast majority of these calls were from people seeking to refurbish a vacant rural home, and I have found it difficult to explain to them that the scheme doesn’t support the refurbishment of such homes.

“Following today’s positive announcement, I will be calling on Mayo County Council who administer the scheme locally to conduct a public information campaign considering the new qualifying criteria that will support the provision of additional housing in rural as well as urban areas and encourage as many people as possible to apply.

It is expected that Mayo County Council’s Director of Service Tom Gilligan will engage with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in October with the extension of the scheme going live in November.