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Better Housing for All

• Support and advocacy for affordable housing scheme for young professionals who exceed the current thresholds, single income households, and renters trying to save deposits with limited supply available and corporate out bidders.

• Affordable Housing for all, in particular, for individuals that exceed the thresholds for supports available but who are struggling with high rents, supply issues and high prices to get on the property ladder.

• Bring more Vacant and Derelict properties into the market.  Second hand housing has dropped 15% a year on year and 20% down in Cork. The current Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant requirement that the property is vacant for 2 years should to be reduced to 12 months and apply to any property (not only properties built before 2008) to allow more uptake.  Proof of no Utility readings can be used to prove vacancy and there is also support from Vacant Homes Ireland.  There are vacant home officers in every county who are very helpful and responsive.

• Grants available include of up to €50,000 to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000 (additional €20,000 if the property is derelict). The grants for Derelict need to be enhanced to factor in any cost to remediate any structural issues.  €70,000 is inadequate for many derelict properties.

• Finance and Grant drawdowns after costs are expended is not working!  For the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant potential buyers don’t have the extra finances to pay and then reclaim the grants after long time to complete the actual works!  This puts burden and stress on people to seek bridging loans from Credit Institutions ‘Home Renovation Loans’ and/or Local Authority Home Loans. The vacant and derelict grants should be drawn down in stages in advance of approved cost expenditure not post works completed. This is also a major deterrent to undertaking a vacant or derelict renovation project.

• This needs to be aligned similar to Self builds where mortgage funds are drawn down in stages for the costs needed.  Self-builders can draw down funds for complete build cost via mortgage in up to six stages, in line with the budget needed and approved for mortgage funds, as the home is being built and can borrow only what is needed for each build stage. Mairead was a self-builder herself and understands the pressure to have the necessary finances and drawdowns in place to complete the works and pay the relevant workers and sub-contractors involved. The Gov grant and mortgage banks need to align their policies and strategy so it’s not on the individual buyer to source more credit/renovation loans (most don’t have the extra finances available to pay before the grant is re-paid after a long time many months to complete remedial works which would be more attractive to be secured in the overall mortgage).

• See Government March 2025 Vacant Homes Action Plan here.

  • 7,700 applications for Vacancy Property Refurbishment Grant (introduced July 2022) approved and over 1,400 grants already paid out. (18% approx)
  • Therefore there is a current delta of 6,300 ‘approved’ grant applications (82%) which are not yet paid out and there’s no public information whether these were in fact started, ongoing or not proceeded with (if prospective purchaser cannot raise interim finance in order to proceed).
  • Note to qualify for the grant it’s not necessary to own the property.  It can be applied for with ”evidence of active negotiations to buy the property (that is, confirmation of engagement from the estate agent or owner of the property) where you are seeking approval in principle for a grant.”

• We must also address difficulties securing mortgages for older properties requiring substantial renovation with Banks and Credit Institutions.

• We also need better protections for mortgage prisoners of vulture funds as there is no central bank regulation of these type of funds or ECB regulation.