Expand Croí Cónaithe scheme to include rental properties – Cannon

The Government’s Croí Cónaithe scheme should be expanded to include properties that are refurbished for rental, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Ciaran Cannon said such a move would help more families and individuals to find homes.

The current scheme offers a grant of up to €50,000 to refurbish vacant and derelict properties, with a requirement that the person carrying out the refurbishment must use the new home as their principal residence.

Deputy Cannon said he is receiving many enquiries from people who wish to refurbish vacant properties for rental, both in towns and rural locations. He said that extending the Croí Cónaithe scheme to include homes intended for rental would unlock the potential of thousands of vacant properties across the country.

“Late last year I made the case that the Croí Cónaithe scheme should be extended to include rural areas and ultimately this change was made to the scheme. My suggestion at the time was based on the number of enquiries I was receiving from people who owned vacant buildings in rural East Galway and couldn’t understand why they were excluded from the scheme.

“Now I’m also receiving enquiries from people who want to refurbish vacant buildings and turn them into homes for rental.

“I have no doubt but that there are many such property owners across the country and a grant of up to €50,000 would be the difference between leaving buildings vacant and derelict or returning them to use as family homes”, said Deputy Cannon.

“All of us who travel through our local towns and villages see so many properties that have been boarded up for years. Why wouldn’t we use every lever available to us to bring them back into use?

“I’m engaging with Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to make this suggestion to him, to make the grant available to anyone who wants to turn a vacant building into a home. That’s what we really need to work towards,” concluded Deputy Cannon.