Almost €9million in grants awarded to Galway's vacant homes

GALWAY County Council have issued almost €9million in Vacant Property Refurbishment Grants. The scheme began in July 2022 and is aimed at helping bring vacant homes back into active use.

Since then, the council has issued grants regarding 160 homes. The grants are valued at €8,751,243. A total of 740 applications were made in the county, 547 have been approved to date with just 27 rejected.

Galway City Council has issued €3,365,948 in grants through the scheme, bringing 65 properties back into use. They received 166 applications, 144 which have been approved, with just five applications rejected.

Between April and June this year, Galway County Council received 38 Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant applications, while 44 active applications were approved. Thirty homes were brought back into use at a total cost in grants of €1,613,182.

In the same period Galway City Council received seven new applications and approved four applications. Nine homes were brought back into use at a total cost of €490,000 in grants. During these three months, neither local authority rejected any applications.

National Figures

Donegal County Council has issued the greatest number of grants to date nationwide. They are valued at €30.9million and brought 542 properties back into use.

According to the latest figures, 1,638 applications for the grant have been made in the county with 1233 approved applications to date.

Carlow County Council has brought the lowest number of properties back into use at 52 homes at a cost of €2,885,936. They received 184 applications, 126 of which have been approved to date, with just one rejected.

Nationally, more than 6,300 homes have been brought back into active use through €348.6 million in Vacant Property Refurbishment Grants.

A total of 14,377 applications have been approved since the scheme began, with 6,312 grant payments already issued on completion of works.

Minister James Browne

“Six previously vacant properties are being brought back into active use every working day across Ireland. This is what I want to see. I do not accept properties being left needlessly idle in a housing crisis,” stated Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne.

“The numbers being brought back into use demonstrates the real impact that targeted investment can have in bringing much needed homes back into use. Since I became Minister, I have lasered in on the levels of vacancy and dereliction in this country and not just in our cities either.”

“We have to bring homes that already exist back into use. They are there. They are usually near services and infrastructure, from paths to roads - all of which is being paid for every day by the taxpayer,” added Minister Browne.

“To be honest we need the regeneration of towns and communities across the country and at the heart of that is having people living in them,” he concluded.