More needs to be done in Waterford to bring vacant properties back into use. That's the message from Councillor Frank Quinlan, who says Waterford Council is not doing enough.
Cllr. Quinlan says people applying for the Vacant Homes Grant are being left in the dark and ignored. The Fine Gael Councillor raised his concerns at a recent Metropolitan meeting of Waterford Council.
"I have received correspondence from people who are purchasing vacant homes to do them up several months ago and are still waiting for an official from the Council to inspect the property."
The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant provides funding so you can refurbish vacant and derelict homes.
The grant can also be used to renovate vacant and derelict properties that have not been used as residential properties before. However, this only applies if the non-residential properties were used for commercial or public use before and now have the correct planning permission. You can also get the grant if you are refurbishing the vacant property so you can live there, or so you can rent the property out.
You can get a grant of up to €50,000 to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000 if the property is derelict.
Cllr. Quinlan continued, "There are people after purchasing these premises and paying mortgages on them, and all they need to get is a vacant home office to visit the property and sign them off. They are waiting for some time, even after emailing with no response from Waterford City and County Council."
A senior official from the Council addressed the meeting of Waterford Council saying, "We will revert your comments to the Capital Grants team and let you know how long these inspections will take.
If you can also provide details of the individual cases you raised, and we can follow up with these in due course."
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