THE BIG READ: Clonakilty man's 'life-changing' home renovation made possible by government grants

A Clonakilty man transformed a 100-year old derelict property into his dream home – thanks to a council grant scheme that’s so far paid out €12m to help regenerate vacant properties and revive West Cork’s towns and villages.

BECOMING a home owner has been life-changing for Clonakilty man Paul Deane – who says it wouldn’t have been possible without the government’s Vacant Property Renovation
Grant.

Paul Deane outside his refurbished home in Kilgarriff, near Clonakilty. (Photo: Andy Gibson)

Paul, a lecturer in clean energy futures at UCC, described the funding as a ‘vital financial cushion’ in the journey.

The dad-of-two had been actively seeking to buy a house for years. ‘I always knew I didn’t have the budget for a new property – besides, there’s so little supply available,’ he said.

‘But knowing that there’s so many empty houses out there, places that haven’t been lived in for years or decades in some cases, I was always keeping an eye out for something suitable when I was driving around. I was actively looking for a place that would work for me and my family, calling into farm yards and talking to people – you have to keep your ear to the ground and try to get ahead of the curve.’

Two years ago, his efforts paid off and he went sale agreed on a 70 sqm, 100-year-old house on the edge of Clonakilty town.

It was an informed purchase, and one he would not have made without the reassurance that he qualified for the Vacant Property Restoration Grant (VPRG).

This is a payment available to property owners if they are turning an empty house or building into their permanent home or a rental property.

A grant of up to €50,000 is available, with a top-up grant amount of up to €20,000 in certain cases for derelict buildings. To qualify for the scheme, properties must have been vacant for at least two years and must have been built prior to the end of 2007.

A total of 1,323 applications have been received by Cork County Council for the VPRG since 2022 – of these 485 are for properties in the council’s Western Divisional area. To date, 977 properties have been approved for the VPRG, with 263 draw downs totalling over €12m.

In Paul’s case it was a straightforward process to show his house had been vacant for a period, and had been built before 2007. The property needed to be rewired, replumbed, new floors fitted, new stairs, and drainage; and he had to provide builder’s plans.

As well as getting the €50k Paul also qualified for grant aid of €30,000 from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

‘That allowed me to drag the energy rating of the house from a G, essentially no rating, coal had been used here, right up to an A rating and turn it into an incredibly cosy, healthy house,’ he explained. ‘I still physically have the chimney but I got rid of the fire place and replaced it with an electric stove.
My heating bills are very modest – I moved in last St Stephen’s Day and my bill for the year wasn’t more than €300. My ESB bills are very modest and predictable.

‘So, in total I got €80,000 in government grants which was significant. The works cost me €130,000 which meant the cost to me was €50,000 which was incredible given the current eye-watering building costs.’

Paul did as much of the unskilled labour as possible himself, including gutting the inside.

‘It’s not like buying a new house, where you get the keys and you move in. When you get the keys to an old house that’s been empty for a while, that’s when the work starts and in the case of my house it needed a lot of work,’ said Paul.

‘I also leaned on my family and friends – pizza and beer was cheaper than labourers! And stripping the house down myself meant that meant that when tradespeople came to price jobs there weren’t any hidden surprises – they could see what they had to do.’

As it’s an old house, making it bigger would have been expensive, so instead Paul chose to make the compact two-bed brighter.

‘It’s not built in Dermot Bannon style so we had to open up some windows which did require some additional communication with the council but it was worth it as I’ve got such a bright home now,’ he said.

And speaking of the celebrity architect, Paul said his renovation journey would have made ‘terrible TV.’

‘That’s what I joked to the builders! It took a while, eight months in total, but there wasn’t any drama, everyone came when they said they would, it came in on budget and while there was some blood and sweat there were no tears!

‘Ultimately there’s a lot of hoops you have to go through but at the end of the day you get €50,000 and that’s huge assistance, and really takes the sting out of the renovation works. It goes an awful long way in a housing market where there’s fewer and fewer choices.’

Paul is hugely proud of his home.

‘They don’t build houses like they used to. The walls in my house are over one metre thick in places, it’s quirky, cosy, and full of character; not linear like the houses
now.

‘I also love that there’s history around this house, people in the locality are sharing stories and memories with me about it, and I’m proud to continue that legacy. There are so many houses like mine with great character and I think we need to do more to keep them in use and lived in as it’s important to maintain the fabric of communities, to honour and remember the past.

‘Put simply, I wouldn’t have bought my house without knowing I’d get the grant – property prices are crazy, everything takes longer than expected and is harder than you think so this allowed me to buy my home and make a vacant property liveable, and good for another 100 years.

‘I’d been renting until this and at this time of the year I’d usually be worried about the cost of heating oil, budgeting for that, and being prepared to wipe dampness from the walls and I’ve none of that any more. It’s life changing. The grant affords a level of dignity, having a home you’re glad to come home to which is what we all deserve.’

(Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.)