Cork council reassigns staff to deal with demand for grants to do up vacant, derelict buildings

Under the terms of the Croí Cónaithe grants system, if a property is both vacant and classified as derelict, the applicant can get up to €70,000 of their costs reimbursed. File photo

Cork County Council has had to draft in extra staff to a department dealing with grants to do up vacant and derelict buildings because the scheme has been so successful, with the average pay out to date nearly €55,000 per property.

Approximately 1,450 people have applied so far for the grants in the county and 282 of them have been approved with a total payout of €15.4m.

Meanwhile, a further 870 applications have been approved. But the grants for these will not be paid out until the works are completed and they are signed off by county council staff.

Under the terms of the Croí Cónaithe grants system up to €50,000 is available in financial aid for people who want to make vacant properties habitable again.

However, if a property is both vacant and classified as derelict, the applicant can get up to €70,000 of their costs reimbursed. The threshold for both grants is increased if the properties happen to be on any of the islands off the Cork coast.

People there can avail of a maximum €60,000 to bring a vacant property back into use and up to €80,000 if it is deemed as both vacant and derelict.

The reason for the higher grants on the islands is that it is acknowledged getting construction materials and workers onto them is more expensive.

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Council officials reported to a meeting of the local authority’s Northern Division that the scheme has had such an uptake, it has reassigned resources from other departments to "expedite the processing of applications and to clear a processing backlog".

One stumbling block to more people availing of the opportunity to do up unoccupied buildings is the current lack of tradesmen to undertake the renovations.

This has also been highlighted as an issue for people who, whether through age or the victim of an accident, need to adapt their home for easier living but are also finding it difficult to get builders.