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Carol Nolan TD has described as an “absolute scandal” the fact that “due to a dispute between the Government and the banks” only one applicant received any money in the vacant property grant scheme to date.
Referring to the “reporting of Gary Kavanagh at Gript media”, the Laois Offaly TD told the Dáíl that the investigation into this matter had shown that only one applicant for the grant, where €50,000 to €70,000 was promised to renovate vacant or derelict property, received any grant money in the scheme’s first nine months of operation.
“This effectively means the key plank of the Government’s housing policy has proven itself to be absolutely worthless for the better part of an entire year, which time was entirely wasted,” she said.
Deputy Carol Nolan- speech from 11 Jul 2023
Private Members' Business (Sinn Féin): Motion re Housing and Homelessness
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She excoriated the government who she said “never stopped in their praise of the scheme as a key policy aimed at increasing the available housing stock”, while the scheme was operating under conditions which left the banks unwilling to lend.
“During that time, however, the Minister, and indeed all of those in government, never stopped in their praise of the scheme as a key policy aimed at increasing the available housing stock,” she said.
“At no point, it seems, did the Minister, or any other member of Government highlight that fact to ordinary people, that their ability to actually draw down the money from the vacant home grant was next to impossible thanks to the dispute between the Government and the banks. The banks were unwilling to provide mortgages on the basis of the scheme’s tough terms and conditions.”
The Gript investigation found that only a single applicant for the Government’s Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, which promised applicants €50-70,000 to bring a vacant or derelict property to a liveable standard, received any money in the scheme’s first nine months of operation.
Departmental records show that, between the launch of the grant in July of 2022 and the end of March of this year, 1,559 applications for the grant were lodged; 459 were approved; 125 were rejected; and only 1 grant was issued.
Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Housing, has previously described the scheme as a “key initiative which underpins” the Government’s Housing for All programme. Heather Humphreys, Minister for Rural and Community Development, described the grant as a “hugely important scheme for individuals and families throughout the country who are trying to secure a home,” and one which would “also play a decisive role in addressing the issue of vacancy and dereliction which faces many rural communities.”
Referring to the housing crisis in general, the Independent TD asked: “how much longer must people wait before they can see any tangible progress on the delivery of social and affordable housing? How much longer are young people to be excluded from living in their rural areas thanks to the frankly stupid planning system which operates in this country? How much longer are rents going to take an absolutely disgraceful amount from the salaries and wages of ordinary people who are already hard pressed?”
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