Maps: vacant property grant applications and approvals per county

There were 6,034 applications for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme as of the end of 2023, the latest figures from the Department of Housing show.

Of those, 3,223 applications were made to the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and 2,799 applications were made to the Derelict Property Top-up Grant stream of this scheme.

In total, 3,166 applications had been approved under the scheme by 31 December 2023.

Applications per local authority

Donegal County Council had the highest number of applications of any local authority - 528 to the end of 2023.

Of those applications, 277 had been approved as of 31 December 2023.

However, per county, Cork had the highest number of applications in this time frame at 682 in its two local authorities combined.

Mayo County Council had the second-highest number of applications to a single local authority - 373 applications and 217 of those approved.

There were 336 applications made to Kerry County Council, with 83 of those approved by the end of 2023 - 25% approved.

This represents the lowest approval rate of any local authority as of the end of 2023.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in Dublin had the highest rate of approved applications at 82% as of the end of 2023, followed by Laois County Council on 75%.

Galway City County had the least amount of applications at 44 by the end of 2023, with 30 of those approved.

Carlow had the lowest number of applications of the county councils - 72, with 28 of those approved.

The Department of Housing previously confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that as of 31 March 2023, 1,542 applications for the scheme had been made and 599 applications had been approved.

Previous grant increase

In April last year, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme was increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties.

The scheme was also extended to cover houses built up to 2007, at this point.

Another change was the option for house owners to rent out the property once refurbished. Until that point, the property had to be occupied by the owner.