The Conservation Advice Grant Scheme was recently introduced to complement the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme (VPRG).

It is intended to provide grant support of up to €5,000 for the provision of expert conservation advice to private owners of vacant traditional farmhouses who are availing of or considering the VPRG.

It will be run by both the National Built Heritage Service and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Criteria

It’s worth noting that not all houses that are applying for the VPRG qualify for this grant. The Conservation Advice Grant Scheme only applies to the following types of buildings:

For more clarity, contact your local authority.

I am planning on applying for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Scheme to do up a derelict house. The house has some, I suppose you would say, historical features.

I am wondering if I get a conservation person in, am I then obliged to do everything they say and will this be a condition of drawing down the €70,000?

The windows are in deplorable condition and a neighbour told me if I go for the Conservation Advice Grant Scheme, I might have to follow everything they say, adding huge cost to the project. Can you advise?

From the offset, it’s worth noting that the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and the Conservation Advice Grant Scheme are two completely separate funding programmes with separate assessment procedures.

So success or failure in applying for the conservation grant should not impact your application for the VPRG.

Also, the Conservation Advice Grant Scheme provides funding for the completion of a conservation report, and does not deal with implementation. So failure to implement the report recommendations in full does not directly impact how you are assessed for the VPRG, or its drawdown.

In saying all that, it is worth noting that the conservation grant is in place to support best practice in the conservation of historic buildings.

I would like to avail of the Conservation Advice Grant Scheme but am not in a position to start the refurbishment job now as I have to free up a bit of finances over the next 18 months.

Can I avail of the advice to see what they say and use this as part of putting plans in place? Or do I have to apply for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant within a certain timeframe?

The scheme does not specify a deadline for applying for the VPRG. However, the application form will ask for details of the vacant property in question, evidence of its vacancy, and the version of the VPRG which will eventually be applied for.

Applications which are less clear or detailed regarding overall plans for the property may be less likely to successfully receive the conservation grants on this occasion.

However, while the closing date is the end of July, we have been informed that it is likely to run again in 2025 so maybe you’ll be in a better position to avail of it then.

Do I need planning approval for conservation work before getting scheme approval?

Planning permission is not required before applying for or being approved under the scheme.

This is because with the Conservation Advice Grant Scheme, the grant funding only covers the production of a report and not the implementation of the recommendations.

We have an old traditional farmhouse on our land that my daughter would love to do up. However, it would require a significant amount of refurbishment, even to make it liveable. How much structural change could she make?

This depends on the level of protection that applies to the property. You don’t specify if it is a protected structure but if it is, or if it is in an Architectural Conservation Area, there would be specific regulations she would need to follow.

In relation to vacant traditional houses and farmhouses without statutory protection, the National Built Heritage Service expects that by providing these grants, owners will be able to make decisions based on high-quality advice.

This will ensure the appropriate retention of Ireland’s architectural heritage for current and future generations.

Further information can be accessed by contacting the Architectural Conservation Officer (ACO) within your local authority, or the nearest equivalent.

It’s worth remembering that while demolition and extension works can form part of an application for the VPRG, it doesn’t allow for complete demolition. It must be part of a refurbishment of an existing dwelling in keeping with the objectives of the scheme.

There is a property in my local town and it would be absolutely stunning if life was put back into it. I would love the pleasure of doing that, so I’m curious to hear about how I go about doing this?

In order to avail of any of the grants, you must own the property. Your query sounds like this is not the case at present so you would need to see if the owner is interested in selling.

If you don’t know the owner, it’s possible to find who owns a property using a folio without having to read the original deeds.

There are a number of ways you can do this:

If you are lucky enough to purchase this fixer-upper, then you can look into applying for the grant.

Read more

Editorial: first-time buyers encouraged to avail of the VPRG

Vacant to vibrant: building a future with the Vacant Property Renovation Grant