A State-backed mortgage loan will be made available for people looking to renovate derelict properties under plans due before Cabinet on Tuesday.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien will bring a series of memos to Cabinet including updates on the Coalition’s flagship Housing For All plan.
Under new plans targeting the issue of vacancy around the country, Mr O’Brien will seek approval for the extension of the Local Authority Home Loan to people seeking to finance the purchase and renovation of derelict or non-habitable properties.
The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government-backed mortgage for first-time buyers who cannot get funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. The loan can be used for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build.
At present, the loan is only given out to buy habitable properties. Under Mr O’Brien’s memo, the loan will be extended to cover the purchase or renovation of derelict homes that may be eligible for the derelict property grant.
It is understood that it will take a number of months to extend the loan and the Government is aiming to have the product ready by next summer. It comes after Revenue identified some 25,000 homes that could be subject to Vacant Homes Tax (VHT), using electricity readings from ESB as one method of gathering data. The VHT is a new annual tax introduced in 2023 that seeks to encourage the return of vacant properties into the housing market.
Mr O’Brien will also tell Cabinet that he intends to double the target for vacancy grants from 2,000 to 4,000 homes. The Government is currently offering up to €50,000 to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000 if the property is derelict.
Demand for these grants has been stronger than expected, Mr O’Brien will tell Cabinet, with more than 5,100 applications made so far to local authorities, of which 2,400 have been approved.
While there will be an update on the Housing For All plan and the overall targets, a separate memo will also be brought to Cabinet on the Rent-a-Room scheme.
[ Almost €6.8m owed in derelict site levies in Dublin cityOpens in new window ]
The measure, which has been previously flagged, will see the Rent-a-Room tax relief extended to local authority tenancies from December 1st on an administrative basis initially, targeting the supply of extra rooms for third-level students. After a year this will be reviewed, and if recommended it could then be extended on full statutory footing.
Government sources also indicated that it was likely Cabinet would discuss issuing an invitation to begin talks on a new public pay deal.
Also at Cabinet, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan will seek approval for the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 report.
It outlines a new plan to ensure energy security in Ireland for this decade, while ensuring a sustainable transition to a net zero energy system by 2050. A press conference will follow on Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, Mr Ryan said an agreement between the Republic and France would scale up collaboration on renewable energy and enhance the use of power interconnectors linking the two countries – with a prospect of cheaper electricity prices.
The joint declaration of intent on “energy transition co-operation”, signed in Dublin, will enhance Ireland’s energy security and facilitate exporting of renewable energy to Europe, such as at times of high wind volumes, and bring power from France when this source is at low levels, Mr Ryan said.
The declaration also provides a framework to accelerate work on decarbonising respective energy systems, Mr Ryan’s counterpart Agnès Pannier-Runacher said. This would stabilise prices and increase capacity to deliver electricity while supporting Europe’s ambition to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, Ms Pannier-Runacher said.
“What we have set out in this declaration makes clear that both Ireland and France will be central to wider European energy plans ... It signals where Europe needs to go,” Mr Ryan said.
The agreement on energy was part of a visit to Ireland by French ministers and parliamentarians. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met French prime minister Élisabeth Borne in Government Buildings on Monday afternoon.
Afterwards Mr Varadkar said: “Ireland and France are old friends and allies with links that stretch back through history.”
Mr Varadkar said they discussed “shared EU challenges” including the need to improve its competitiveness and resilience and “accelerate green and digital transitions”.
Mr Varadkar also said they “reiterated our shared and unwavering support for Ukraine and its people as they face into a second winter of this terrible war” and they discussed the “deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
