'A blight on our towns and villages': Cork County Council seeks increase in vacant property grant

CORK County Council has agreed to write to the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien recommending an increase in the current funding rates under the Croí Cónaithe Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant to ensure more people are incentivised to invest in vacant and derelict properties.

The motion was brought before Monday’s full council meeting by the Fine Gael grouping in Cork County Council and it attracted unanimous support from all councillors in the chamber.

Cllr John Paul O’Shea said he wants the current grant rates of €30,000 for a vacant property and €50,000 for a derelict property to be increased to €50,000 and €70,000 respectively to better reflect the significant costs involved in renovating a vacant or derelict property.

“We are proposing that we ask the Government to increase this allocation to €50,000 for a vacant property and up to €70,000 for a derelict property.

“In my own district of Kanturk and Mallow we have identified several properties in our main villages and towns that are idle and derelict. If this grant was to increase, I think we would get significant movement on our vacancy and dereliction in our towns and villages,” he said.

Cllr O’Shea said the introduction of the Croí Cónaithe Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant has been a success.

“We welcome the introduction of this grant. It was initially for rural towns and cities. It has been broadened in recent months to the countryside.

“A recent report to this chamber showed there was a huge amount of applications particularly in rural areas.

“We have had several representations from people who own vacant and derelict properties who want to bring it back into the rental market.

“It has become evidently clear that the €30,000 and the €50,000 bracket will not be sufficient for a lot of the properties to renovate these properties to a standard where they can be put back out on to the rental market,” he added.

‘NEW BUILD NEARLY CHEAPER’

His party colleague Cllr Anthony Barry said that the grant needs to be ‘substantially’ increased.

“Everyone knows the situation around construction inflation. It has put huge dents on the grants.

“We have a lot of derelict properties, and we need to bring them up to modern day standards. In a lot of cases, it is nearly cheaper to do a new build.

“We have a housing shortage and the rush here is to get as many properties as possible out on the market through rental or self-ownership.

“The grants need to be substantially increased.”

“Derelict properties are a blight in all our towns and villages,” said Independent councillor Mary Lenihan Foley.

“If the grant was increased, we would have more success stories.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath welcomed the motion, but said there should be one flat rate for a property that has been vacant for more than two years.

“We do need to put funding in this direction to get properties back in use.

“I think the distinction between vacant and derelict is probably unnecessary in this scheme. A vacant property is a vacant property.

“I think there should be one flat rate for any property vacant for more than two years, and for that rate to be higher.”