Brigid Browne: Is a vacant boarded-up old house worth doing up... or too much work?

Some things worth knowing about converting an ex-rental into a family home

"While I see the potential to convert an older house into a nice family home, my partner sees a wreck of a house which requires a serious amount of work..."

Hi Brigid,

We are looking at a three-bed, semi-d in Cork City that was previously a rental of two self-contained units. I think the estate was built in the 1980s, but this house has been vacant for some time and is now in poor condition. While the roof and walls look OK, the windows are boarded up and it’s just bare floorboards inside. It’s also been on the market for a long time. While I see the potential to convert it in to a nice family home — it comes with a garage, large overgrown garden, and is in a good area — my partner isn’t too keen. She sees a wreck of a house that requires a serious amount of work, which is true. I have lots of questions:

• Are homes that have been split in to two units difficult to bring back to a single-family home?
• Is this a financially viable project?
• Are there any grants for this work?
• Would the previous owner have required planning permission to convert it in the first place, and would we need permission to reconvert it, if we were to buy it?
• Are the building regs/fire regs different for an individual home?
• Would we need to check for any outstanding tenancy agreements?
• Would a property like this be registered as two separate units or as one house?
• Will there be changes to the LPT?
• Will the fact that there would have been separate utility accounts cause issues?
• And maybe this should have been my first question: Would we be better off knocking it and building a new home, or walking away from it?
• A lot of questions here, I know, but we would appreciate any guidance,

- Greg

Hi Greg,

You do have a lot of questions, but these are never more relevant than in today’s market. We all want to see unused and unloved houses made homes again. It’s a sustainable practice reducing needless waste.

I also understand your partner’s perspective. Where you can see the finished product, your partner sees six months of dust, invoices, and unexpected phonecalls from builders.

So, let’s look at things we can offer her for comfort — and which will give you the tools you both need to see your way forward.

Refurbishment project

If you are going to seriously consider this, you should view it as a refurbishment project and not simply as a house purchase. You are focusing on the purchase price of €230k, but how much money do you need to add to bring the property to a habitable condition?

A boarded-up, 1980s house stripped back to floorboards could potentially need windows and doors, rewiring, heating, replumbing, insulation, kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, plastering, and decoration... before you even encounter surprises.

Get a chartered building surveyor to produce a realistic schedule of works and budget, including, perhaps, a 15–20% contingency. To this, add the purchase price, stamp duty, and professional fees (solicitor, chartered building surveyor and valuer) and you’ll have an idea of costs.

You then take this figure to your valuer and scrutinise whether this will increase the value of the asset. This will allow you to see if the project is financially viable.

Grant options

Cork City Council’s vacant property refurbishment grant provides up to €50,000 where a qualifying property has been vacant for at least two years and was built up to, and including, 2007.

A qualifying derelict property can receive an additional €20,000, bringing the maximum to €70,000. You can seek approval while actively purchasing the property, rather than necessarily having completed the purchase.

Don’t assume ‘very run-down’ automatically qualifies for the €70,000 grant, though. For the derelict top-up, the property generally needs to be structurally unsound/ dangerous or on the Derelict Sites Register.

SEAI energy grants may also be available, alongside the vacant-property scheme, provided you’re not claiming twice for the same work.

There are now grants for insulation, heat pumps, windows, and doors. For example, the current windows grant for a semi-detached house is €3,000.

Legal advice

I always encourage any of my clients looking at purchasing to seek a conveyancing solicitor’s advice and protection. An experienced one is worth their weight in gold. The solicitor usually sends a letter of instruction to the chartered building surveyor that you have chosen or whom they suggest, and requests that a building survey (also known as a house-purchasing survey), planning search, and boundary check be carried out.

If your building was divided into two, it should have received planning permission, and this will come up in the planning search. If no permission was sought or received, and if there is uncertainty about whether returning it to one dwelling is an exempted development, your consultant can advise whether you should obtain a formal planning declaration or apply for permission.

Your solicitor will advise on any outstanding tenancy agreements, and whether it’s registered as two separate units or as one house.

Part of these checks will involve looking at the folio file plan at the Registry of Deeds or Land Registry to see if the property has been split in to two. Your solicitor will also advise on changes to the LPT and whether utility accounts have to be dealt with.

With regard to building regulations, all works relating to your refurbishment project are subject to them, including Part B fire safety.

On the question of demolition versus refurbishment, your building survey report will cover the condition of the property and will make recommendations for repair.

It is always best to refurbish, as the building is already there. Reasons for demolition would have to be compelling and that’s not be a popular route to take, as it is not considered sustainable.

If this all sounds overwhelming, don’t panic. Just get the right team in place. They do this every day, and it will end up more cost-effective than if you go it alone. Best of luck.

Brigid Browne: Renovating is a sustainable practive, but a length and potentially expensive one

• Brigid Browne is a chartered building surveyor and Chair of the Southern Region of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. She is the MD of Cashel-based Fortress Planning. fortressplanning.ie