Ms Jude Sherry:

We bought a long-term vacant property in Cork city that is 200 years old. It needs everything done to it, including work on the roof, ceiling, electrics and plumbing. It is way more cost effective and cheaper for us to buy or do a new build or turnkey on the same street as us. It is one third of the price. If we are just renovating an old home, we have to do many things and build many things. There is a great guide from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage about building regulations for old homes. It is called Bringing Back Homes - Manual for the Reuse of Existing Buildings. It was extremely helpful. It demystified those building regulations and showed that they were not a barrier for bringing homes back into use. Half of the properties that we identified in Cork city centre are homes and none of these building regulations prevents homes being brought back into use.