Vacant houses on farms and in rural villages across the country may now be eligible for grants of up to €70,000 in a drive by Government to get vacant properties back into use.

The Government announced on Tuesday 25 April that the Croí Conaithe Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme will be increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties.

Previously, in the original scheme that was announced by Government, eligible houses had to be built before 1993. However, it has now been extended to cover houses built up to 2007.

Another enhancement of the scheme which Cabinet signed off on is that the grant will be available for properties intended for rental as well as owner occupied.

Beefed-up grants

The Government has said that by beefing up grants to cut the cost of restoring empty homes and by making it easier to apply, the rate at which vacant and derelict properties are renovated for new housing will be increased.

The Department of Housing told the Irish Farmers Journal on Tuesday that as of 31 March, 1,542 applications for the scheme had be made and 599 applications had been approved.

The scrapping of development levies for 12 months to encourage building is another housing measure the Government announced on Tuesday in an effort to encourage the supply of homes. This is an average saving of €12,650 per home.

Following the announcement, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “We expect these actions will have an immediate impact and increase the number of homes built in the coming years.

"It should move the dial in terms of those inactivated planning permissions and might be the difference in a young couple taking on a vacant or derelict property, making the best use of our existing housing stock.

"We have a long way to go, but I am more confident now than ever before we are on the right path."