Payments from the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant look set to top €275m and could potentially reach €400m, if scheme approvals continue at current rates.

This is delivering a major boost to the rural economy, local authorities have claimed.

More than 5,400 grant applications were approved by local authorities up to the end of June, from a total of 8,600 applications received.

Final payments of close to €24.5m were issued to 484 property owners by 30 June, putting the average grant payout at more than €50,000.

If all 5,400 approved applicants receive the average payment, then the total spend on the scheme will exceed €275m.

But this figure could rise to €400m, if close to 8,000 of the applicants to date are successful in drawing down grants.

Payment of the vacant house grant – which can be claimed on derelict houses or properties that have been vacant for two years or more – got going in earnest this spring and is expected to gather pace through the autumn as more homes are completed.

West

Counties along the western seaboard have recorded the highest level of grant approvals, with 500 projects getting the green light in Donegal, 478 in Cork, 257 in Limerick, 234 in Clare, 233 in Sligo, 158 in Roscommon and 118 in Leitrim.

Grant payments in Mayo topped €2m this week, with 41 of the 365 applicants who have been approved to date being paid.

Deirdre Swords, of Mayo County Council’s vacant homes office, forecast that grant payments would continue to flow at pace as more refurbishment projects are completed.

Criticism that the programme had been slow to payout, was rejected by Swords.

She pointed out that the scheme was only launched in July 2022, with applicants being allowed 18 months to complete all works.

“A lot of the talk on payments was disingenuous,” Swords said.

“Applicants were generally not looking for grants up to this year as most used the full 18 months they were entitled to when finishing off the houses,” she explained.

The vacant house scheme has been hugely beneficial on a number of fronts, Swords maintained.

“It has helped in the delivery of 41 homes [in Mayo] in a relatively short timeframe,” she said.

It has also given a major lift to the rural economy.

“When you think that it is mostly local tradesmen working on these houses, who are buying materials from the local hardware store, then you can see the wider impact of the grants,” Swords pointed out.

While 43% of the grant approvals in Mayo have been for urban areas – towns and villages – 57% were for houses in rural districts.

Swords said a mix of applicants were approved for grants.

These included people who were “doing up the granny’s or the uncle’s cottage on the farm” or locals who were moving back to live in Mayo.

Renting

The grant also gave an opportunity to those renting to purchase and renovate a house that was either derelict or at risk of falling into dereliction, Swords explained.

This delivered on two key goals for the council, Swords said. It provided a “pathway to home ownership” and “championed the idea of dealing with vacancy and dereliction”.

The grant scheme remains open and applications are continuing to be processed by local authorities.