Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund · Co. Kerry
A Kerry-based contractor for owners using the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant: quotations the local authority can assess, an itemised renovation scope, and the works delivered from strip-out to completion inspection.
Kerry has some of the country's highest concentrations of long-empty houses — terraces in Tralee and Listowel, farmhouses outside Castleisland, cottages on the Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas. The scheme funds the refurbishment; it does not produce the quotation the council wants to see, the sequence the trades will follow, or the finished house at the end. That is the part WEPRO does, from a Tralee base that keeps travel and site visits practical across the county.
Eligibility is decided by the local authority — this is what the published scheme conditions say to check first.
Current payment amounts
These are the published maximum amounts, not an estimate of your project. The council pays against approved, evidenced expenditure, so the grant is capped by both the scheme maximum and what the qualifying works actually cost.
| Scheme / band | Maximum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Vacant property | Up to €50,000 | A vacant home refurbished for you to live in or to rent out, subject to eligible expenditure. |
| Derelict property | Up to €70,000 | The €50,000 grant plus a top-up of up to €20,000 where the property is structurally unsound and dangerous, or entered on the Derelict Sites Register. |
| Former commercial or public building — 2 units | Up to €70,000 (€90,000 derelict) | Since 31 March 2026 the whole-building conversion strand covers vacant former commercial or public-use buildings turned into two residential units. Single-unit conversions are not eligible under this strand. |
| Former commercial or public building — 3+ units | Up to €90,000 (€110,000 derelict) | The same 31 March 2026 strand where three or more residential units are created in the building. |
Payment follows completion: the local authority inspects the finished work, the charge document is signed, and the grant is then paid. You must live in or rent the property for at least five years from the payment date, and a clawback applies if you sell it, stop living in it or stop renting it within ten years.
Step by step
Check the build year, gather two years of vacancy evidence and confirm ownership or an active purchase. Kerry County Council's vacant homes officer will tell you what they accept before you spend money on drawings.
The council assesses a quotation for the proposed works. This is where WEPRO produces an itemised contractor quotation covering strip-out, structure, services, bathrooms, kitchen and finishes, written so an assessor can follow it line by line.
The owner submits the form and supporting documents to Kerry County Council: proof of vacancy (utility bills, or a signed affidavit where bills cannot be obtained), proof of ownership or active negotiations, evidence the property was built before 2008, planning permission where required, derelict evidence for the top-up, tax clearance and Local Property Tax confirmation.
Do not start work before the approval letter. Work carried out before approval is not funded, and this is the single most expensive mistake owners make on this scheme.
With approval in hand, the renovation contract is signed and the works run to the agreed sequence. Invoices and evidence are kept in the format the council will look for at the end.
The council inspects the completed work, the charge document is signed, and the grant is paid to the applicant. The five-year occupancy or letting condition starts from that payment date.
The contractor's side
You stay the applicant — that is a scheme rule, not a preference. Everything that is a contractor's job, WEPRO carries.
01
An itemised quotation in a format the council can assess, a written schedule of works, a stated list of exclusions and client dependencies, and invoices and photographic records kept as the job runs so the completion file is not assembled from memory a year later.
02
One project manager, and registered contractors appointed where electrical or gas work is involved. You are not chasing five separate trades across Kerry and hoping their dates line up.
03
The sequence, the site start, the trade order and the practical completion date go in the written scope before work begins, along with how concealed defects and variations get priced and approved.
04
Photographs, invoices and the completion documents for regulated work, collated for the local authority's inspection and for your own records.
A renovation contractor is not a grant agent. These boundaries keep the scope accurate and keep you dealing directly with the people who actually decide.
The named owner or eligible individual signs the declarations and deals with the council. A contractor cannot apply on your behalf.
Kerry County Council alone confirms eligibility, approves the application, inspects the work and authorises payment.
Engineers, architects, assigned certifiers and registered trades remain responsible for their reports and regulated work.
A quotation from WEPRO does not guarantee grant approval, the amount awarded or the timing of reimbursement.
Real WEPRO projects — before on the left, after on the right. Long-empty rooms need the same sequence every time: strip out, fix what the damp and the years did, then finish.
Before
After
Before
AfterUp to €50,000 for a vacant property, and up to €70,000 where the property is also derelict — that is the €50,000 grant plus a derelict top-up of up to €20,000. Since 31 March 2026 a separate strand covers vacant former commercial or public-use buildings converted into two or more homes, at up to €70,000 or €90,000 for vacant buildings and up to €90,000 or €110,000 where the building is derelict. All amounts are maximums, paid against approved and evidenced expenditure.
No. €70,000 is the ceiling for a derelict property, not an entitlement. The council pays the lower of the scheme maximum and the approved cost of the qualifying works, after inspecting the completed job.
No. The application must be approved before any work begins. Work carried out beforehand is not funded, and no contractor or council officer can retrospectively fix that.
It can be either. You must intend to live in it as your principal private residence, or make it available to rent with the tenancy registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. Rental applicants supply evidence of annual RTB registration to the council for ten years after payment.
No. There is no income test on the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. The property conditions — built before 2008, vacant two years, and your intended use — are what decide eligibility.
You must live in or rent the property for at least five years from the date the grant is paid. If you sell it, stop living in it, or it is no longer available to rent within ten years, you repay some or all of the grant to the local authority. After ten years no clawback applies.
The scheme does not operate an approved-contractor panel — you choose your own builder and submit their quotation with the application. WEPRO writes quotations in the itemised form councils assess, and delivers the work under a separate written construction contract.
In appropriate cases both can be used on the same property, but the same measure cannot be funded twice. Keep the works and the invoices separated and agree the split with both grant bodies in advance.
Three fields is enough to start. Add the Eircode of the vacant property and WEPRO will come back to you by phone to confirm whether the renovation scope is a fit and what the council will want to see.
WEPRO does not submit grant applications and cannot influence a local-authority decision. What you get here is the contractor quotation, the scope and the delivered work.