Donegal County Council is among top performing local authorities in Ireland when it comes to the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme.
Figures released to Donegal Daily reveal that payments under the scheme have now exceeded €2.9m, which represents 58 homes in the county being brought back into use.
The council has also one of the quickest turnarounds when it comes to payouts, with applicants receiving refunds within six to eight weeks of submitting their receipts.
Since the Scheme opened in July 2022, a total of 927 applications have been received to refurbish vacant properties. To date, 614 of these have been approved for grant support, with the balance awaiting further information from the applicant or being scheduled for a first technical inspection. Within the overall total, 26 applications were deemed not to meet the scheme requirements and 33 applications were withdrawn by the applicant.
In total, the value of approved grants represents a possible investment throughout the county of more than €30m should all grants now approved be brought through to completion by the applicants.
A selectin of ‘before and after’ pictures of Donegal homes completely refurbished under the scheme.
As the number of properties which have completed their refurbishment works continues to accelerate, the council says the challenge is to process these in a timely fashion in order to reimburse the applicants for the approved works.
“The typical time from submission of receipts to payment of the grant to the applicants is currently between 6-8 weeks,” a council spokesperson said.
“This compares very favourably with other counties, and we will continue to prioritise this part of the process.
Mr Liam Ward is the council’s Director of Services for Community Development and Planning Services.
“The grant scheme provides a significant incentive to the owners of vacant properties to bring properties back into use for family homes, in addition to significant benefits for the local economy and community,” he said.
“I strongly encourage owners of vacant properties to contact the team to explore the supports available to bring properties back into use”.
To date the council has held information events in 38 locations and wishes to thank everyone who attended these events in such high numbers. Due to the continued demand, more events are being planned for late October/early November. Details of these dates and venues will be published within the next two weeks.
Further information on the scheme is available at www.donegalcoco.ie or by contacting the team at vacanthomes@donegalcoco.ie or by phone during office hours at 074 9153900.