Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this important issue and allowing me the opportunity to provide an update on this matter. Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock. Many areas of cities, towns and villages of all sizes face the blight of vacant properties, which, if brought back into use, could add real vibrancy to, and provide new accommodation in, those areas. The Croí Cónaithe towns fund is a key initiative that underpins the policy objectives set out in pathway 4 of Housing for All. Schemes under this fund, which are delivered by local authorities, will provide new choices for people to live in towns and villages in Ireland through the provision of a grant to support the refurbishment of vacant properties and by providing serviced sites in towns and villages to people in order to build their own homes.

On 14 July this year, the vacant property refurbishment grant, funded by the Croí Cónaithe towns fund, was launched. The scheme will be of benefit to those who wish to turn a formerly vacant house or building into their principal private residence. It is important to note it is not for rental purposes; you must live in the house. The grant of up to €30,000 is available for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence, including the conversion of a property which was not previously used as residential. An additional maximum top-up grant of €20,000 is available where the property is confirmed to be derelict, bringing the total grant available for a derelict property up to a maximum of €50,000. On that, if the house is on the council's derelict register, that is sufficient. If it is not on the register, the applicant can get a commercial consultant to provide a report stating it is derelict and the local vacant homes officer will then come out and inspect it. Once that is agreed, it can fall under the scheme. It does not have to already be on the derelict register.

On 21 September, the ready-to-build scheme, also funded by Croí Cónaithe towns fund, was launched. Under the scheme, local authorities will make serviced sites in towns and villages available to potential individual purchasers to build their own homes. These sites will be available at a discount on the market value of the site for the building of the property for occupation as the principal private residence of the purchaser. When the fund was launched, a commitment was made to ongoing review of the scheme. Feedback on the vacant property refurbishment scheme to date has been overwhelmingly positive, with 169 applications submitted up to the start of September.

Given that the key objective of pathway 4 of Housing for All is to ensure that houses we already have are being fully utilised, a decision has been made to extend the eligibility of the vacant property refurbishment grant to vacant properties in both our cities and rural areas. This is a significant development. I want to take the opportunity to confirm this. The Minister announced it at the National Ploughing Championships recently. Both schemes under the Croí Cónaithe towns fund will continue to be only for those who intend to occupy the property as their principal private residence. Officials in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will work with the vacant homes officer in each of the local authorities in the coming weeks to update details of this grant, with a view to expanding the scheme. We hope to have that major expansion available in November of this year.