Derelict home scheme payment delays driving builders away
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The success of a government scheme aimed at helping people to renovate derelict homes is in jeopardy because grant approvals and payouts are taking so long builders will not take on these jobs.
Cork county councillors are to write to the Department of Housing and Local Government & Heritage seeking urgent amendments to the Croí Cónaithe Grant Scheme, including allowing applicants to receive stage payments.
They have also asked council officials to add more personnel to the team in County Hall which deals with applications to speed up their processing.
The issue was raised by Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden after he received a report on the administering of the grants.
He said he was “alarmed” at the fact that just 45 applicants had been paid out of the 592 so far approved for the grant. They were paid a combined €2,238,811.42 — an average of nearly €50,000 each.
“I know of two cases, one approved last February and the other in March, who still haven’t been paid,” he said.
He said he recognises the scheme requires a lot of administration, but the process has to be sped up.
“We need to get more staff (in our legal department) to process them,” Fine Gael councillor Michael Creed said. “Builders are not taking on these jobs anymore as they’re not being paid on time.”
Mayor of County Cork and Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said he was aware of some cases where the hold up was not with the council but with applicants’ solicitors.
Fianna Fáil councillor Sheila O’Callaghan pointed out that under the terms of the scheme applicants have just 13 months to complete renovations on buildings.
She said this “is quite restrictive” because it’s extremely hard at the moment to get tradesmen such as electricians and plumbers as they are in very short supply.
Council officials said they could do nothing about providing stage payments as they have to follow guidelines laid down by the Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage which currently doesn’t allow for that.
Assistant county council chief executive Kevin Morey said he understands the issues councillors were raising about the grants scheme, but added there is “significant amount of work involved in it” from the local authority’s perspective.
Fianna Fáil councillor Bernard Moynihan said many young couples couldn’t hope to build a home unless they got the a grant aid offered by the scheme, which had the added advantage of tackling dereliction.
Council chief executive Moira Morrell said there are a lot of complexities in administering it, but maintained the introduction of stage payments would be a welcome move.
She said that money could be set aside when the council discusses its budget for 2025 later this year to employ more solicitors in the council department administering the grants.
The council is to write to the department seeking it introduce stage payments and extend the 13-month limit on completing refurbishments.