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.