Call for provision of grants to support the refurbishment of vacant properties in Leitrim

Cllr James Gilmartin put forward a motion at this month's Council meeting in relation to the Croí Cónaithe scheme, which sees a provision of grants to support the refurbishment of vacant properties. 

In Cllr Gilmartin's proposal, he urged Leitrim County Council to request the Department of Housing to implement three key changes: enabling staggered payments to boost applicant interest, extending the construction timeframe from 13 to 24 months to accommodate contractor shortages and renovation challenges, and allocating additional funds for asbestos removal in older buildings where necessary. 

“We need a multi-faceted approach to deal with it. The Croí Cónaithe scheme has been an excellent scheme so far,” Cllr Gilmartin said. 

“There's 182 applications, of which 119 I'm told are approved with 59 in progress; that's really good numbers. 

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“It's about making the best use of this money going forward, to see how we could streamline supports to encourage more people to be involved.” 

Cllr Gilmartin also questioned if it would be possible to get wastewater treatment funding that comes under Croí Cónaithe. 

The Council was told that the current grant system applies specifically to houses in high-risk water quality areas, which are subject to inspections to determine eligibility. 

“From speaking to people, they want to avail of it and I think it's a great opportunity when the funding is there, to get people back into our rural communities,” Cllr Gilmartin said. 

The motion was seconded by Cllr Mary Bohan and Cllr Brendan Barry. 

“It's very welcome and good that the Council did feed into all those issues. 

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“A lot of people don't have the full cost to be able to pay builders and then draw down full payments. The staged payments should definitely be done, and I hope that it will because it won't cost the Department any more money but it would bring a lot more houses into use,” Cllr Barry commented.