Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant- What to look out for .
The scheme was launched with great publicity with the hope that persons looking to acquire their 1st property would avail of the Grant and bring some disused properties back into use as family homes.
The Grant Application paperwork required is processed by your local county council and while the idea of the Grant is progressive there have been a number of problems as we discovered with a client of ours.
One of the 1st declarations must be made is whether there is a requirement for planning permission or not. You have to be very careful here as if you’re doing internal work only you do not need planning permission.
Beware that the Regulations state notwithstanding that you must get your local authority to certify that it does not require a planning application.
Do not just complete the form and say “does not apply” and hope that matters will proceed from there.
Our client filled in the application stating was no need for planning as all the work on the house were internal works and then he wondered why he had not heard from the council who were to send out an Engineer to inspect the house prior to any work being carried out.
It is important therefore that the correct procedures are followed even though it seems unnecessary if only internal work is being carried out and there is a charge of €80 for it.
You must comply with this Regulation or else the application will not move forward.
In our case the client was awaiting the engineer to call to the house and as a there was no appearance by the Council Engineer and as the client was paying rent and also a mortgage for the purchase of the house they went ahead and had the work carried out.
When they reverted to the council to enquire when the inspection was to take place the local council indicated they had not had an engineering inspection prior to the work starting and on that basis they could not qualify for the grant.
The lesson here is even if you think your works do not require planning permission you must get that certified.
With a lot of properties where the existing exterior structure is retained you still must get that confirmed by the local council to move ahead with the application.