Vacant property grant to convert barn

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Mocame

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I would like to convert a barn into a residence and is possible avail of the vacant property grant to help fund the costs There has been barn on the site for well over 100 years and it was partially rebuilt in the 1980s but has never been used as a residence. I would need planning permission to convert it into a dwelling so that would be in place before I apply for the grant but will a barn qualify for the grant? No one has ever lived in it.
 
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I have made further inquiries with the local county council about the conversion of my barn type structure into a dwelling. They told me I won't quality for the vacant property grant but I can't get a clear answer as to why.

First I was told the grant scheme doesn't apply to agricultural buildings. In response I pointed out the structure is located on the main street of a village and has never been used for agricultural purposes - it was a workshop for the family business. I was then told the grant is only available for flats over over shops and pubs with accommodation upstairs. I pointed out that these restrictions are not mentioned anywhere in the guidelines on the grant and then got a very defensive response and was told I needed to make a full application for the grant and the council would 'look at it'.

I am deeply frustrated because I need to know whether the building qualifies for the vacant property grant or not before I spent a significant amount of money on paying a planning consultant to make an application for planning permission for converting it to residential. Can anyone give me any guidance?
 
I think maybe because you referred to it as a barn, the person you were speaking to assumed it was one? If it was a workshop, they might be referring to this

Refurbishing Vacant Property - Planning Permission Exemptions

Those who wish to convert certain commercial premises - including vacant areas above ground-floor premises and former pubs - into residential units do not require planning permission for such works.
www.gov.ie www.gov.ie

Try to get a preplanning meeting with the council (I believe they visit the proposed site) and they should be able to give you guidance before you proceed further.

I would imagine that the vacant property grant would require it to have been residential at some point. So you would need to convert first, leave it vacant for 2 years, hope the regulations stayed in place and I am pretty sure there is a condition that you won't qualify for the grant if you have purposefully left a property vacant.
 
Mocame said:
First I was told the grant scheme doesn't apply to agricultural buildings. In response I pointed out the structure is located on the main street of a village and has never been used for agricultural purposes - it was a workshop for the family business. I was then told the grant is only available for flats over over shops and pubs with accommodation upstairs. I pointed out that these restrictions are not mentioned anywhere in the guidelines on the grant and then got a very defensive response and was told I needed to make a full application for the grant and the council would 'look at it'.

I am deeply frustrated because I need to know whether the building qualifies for the vacant property grant or not before I spent a significant amount of money on paying a planning consultant to make an application for planning permission for converting it to residential. Can anyone give me any guidance?
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The government website is confusing as it refers to 'building'

Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

www.gov.ie www.gov.ie

​

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is a payment you can get if you are turning a vacant house or building into your permanent home or a rental property.


A barn or shed is a building.

There is also a pdf doc but I don't know how to link to it on here. It says the scheme also applies non residential on page 3, with a small 3 at the bottom of the page referring to

- buildings previously used for commercial or public use

(I suppose that means shops/pubs and the like).

Maybe it stretches to work sheds. Were people coming there to purchase stuff being produced in the shed.

But let's go back logically, the grants purpose is to provide housing, you're trying to provide housing, and your county council are doing their best to thwart you.

The only thing you can do is check the primary legislation.

Separately, how much does a planning consultant cost? Can you not make an application yourself?
 
There is provision in the scheme for buildings not previously used for residential purposes, however planning permission for change of use is required in such cases. This applies to 'commercial or public buildings' and it may be that this barn was erected under the agricultural use exemptions and so excluded as a result. Sheds and barns are generally considered ancillary to the main building.
 
So if his barn is not agricultural it might be eligible. I found this for OP

Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant provides funding so you can refurbish vacant properties to live in or rent out.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie

If he goes into the document 'bringing back homes' manual it has two interesting bits

1) page 22

Each local authority also has a central role to play in bringing homes back into use through the CPO Actvaton Programme. This Programme was launched in April 2023 by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage as part of the Vacant Homes Acton Plan. Under the Programme, local authorites are required to adopt a proactve, planned and systematc approach to the identfcaton and actvaton of vacant and derelict propertes,

Seems to me the councils should be encouraging the provision of housing from that, not trying to stop the OP.

2) page 26, they have 4 types of housing, (existing homes, shops with one flat above, shop with 2 flats above, and last type is a multistory building).

This one was never a dwelling.
 
Bronte said:
Seems to me the councils should be encouraging the provision of housing from that, not trying to stop the OP.
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They should where appropriate, but for example they shouldn't allow the existence of an agricultural barn be used to sidestep development plan objectives of more sustainable development. It's rare that a barn of that age would be suitable for conversion meeting today's building regulations without essentially knocking it and starting again. This scheme is intended for more modern buildings that need less work, hence refurbishment in the title. Converting a 100+ year old barn is not a refurbishment.
 
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I would have thought a barn/shed/workshop on a street in a village was an excellent conversion. Many of the property programmes from the UK have pieces on wonderful barn conversions. All adding to the housing stock. Many farmers in Ireland have probably converted such buildings as some of them can be lovely. In places like New York they convert industrial buildings. Recently I've noticed a lot of commerical office buildings are being converted into housing. Housing is needed and it's better to use brownfield sites than greenfield.

The fourth example in the document I mentioned was clearly some kind of storage building and had never been a residence and it clearly being encouraged in the document. I remember a Mill House in Galway on the Corrib was converted into commerical and flats which was a lovely job.
 
Bronte said:
I would have thought a barn/shed/workshop on a street in a village was an excellent conversion.
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Barns in a village don't fall under the agriculture exemptions. There are some wonderful barn conversions, but they only make sense where the barn is a protected structure or of very high quality. We don't have very many of them here.
 
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