Croi Conaithe Scheme and OfferAHOME initiative

[VoiceofReason]

Just a heads up as people with a vacant property may not realise this.

The Croi Conaithe scheme offers a grant of €30,000 if you have a property that meets certain criteria including being vacant for the 2 years prior to application. This is to update a property to provide accommodation for the owner. So if you had a vacant house and put it on the market the new owner could apply for this grant.

However it appears that if you have a property that qualifies for the grant and offer this on a temporary basis under the offerahome initiative it will potentially cost you €30,000 as you no longer qualify for the Croi Conaithe scheme.

I thought there might be a process where you prove eligibility for Croi Conaithe prior to making the property available for Temporary Refugee Accommodation but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Poorly thought out it seems and will either mean that people will have to leave properties vacant to maintain Croi Conaithe qualification or perhaps inadvertently lose that by providing the property under Offerahome.

Am I interpreting this correctly or does anyone have a different understanding.

 

[Groucho]

Given that the scheme stipulates that

"It is required that the applicant(s) will live in the qualifying property for a period of at least five years from the date of payment of the grant.

and

If at any time they sell the property or it ceases to be their principal private residence within ten years they must reimburse the local authority an element of the full value of the grant."

it seems perfectly reasonable to me that they wouldn't be eligible for the grant if the didn't abide by that condition.

 

[VoiceofReason]

I am highlighting the initial qualification for the scheme, For example

House currently vacant for over 2 years

-Apply for the Croi Conaithe scheme and move in when work is carried out
-Meet all other criteria of course


House Currently vacant for over 2 years
-Offer house for 6 months to local authority to house a Ukrainian family, lose eligibility to Croi Conaithe at that point.

If someone is working away and owns a vacant house they hope to move back to and upgrade and then live in, they cannot make that house available in the interim as it must sit vacant to qualify for Croi Conaithe, seems like a missed opportunity to make more property available.

 

[Groucho]

If the house isn't fit for you to live in without remedial work, then why would you want to inflict it on a Ukranian family?

 

[VoiceofReason]

Who said it isn't fit to live in!!!

Houses need periodic upgrading, the Croi Conathe scheme is designed to support that.

There is an additional payment available if the house is derelict which seems to be what you are suggesting.