Island dwellers will be offered up to €84,000 to convert derelict houses into new liveable accommodation under an enhanced housing scheme to be unveiled on Wednesday.
Rural and Community Development Minister, Heather Humphreys, will be on the beautiful island of Arranmore, Donegal, to announce the launch of ‘Our Living Islands’ – the first national island policy in 27 years.
Part of the plan will see a call-out to those with vacant or derelict properties on our offshore islands to convert them into liveable properties again to help tackle the housing crisis.
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Housing Minister, Darragh O’Brien, has agreed to upgrade his Croi Conaithe vacant homes scheme to support the renovations of vacant and derelict properties on offshore islands.
The maximum grant for island properties will be €60,000, 20% more than the €50,000 available for those applying for the same scheme on the Mainland.
And for derelict properties, the grant provided will be up to €84,000 compared to €70,000 on the Mainland. This will come into effect from July 1 and will be applied retrospectively to any existing applications.
Minister Humphreys is expected to say today: “Our Living Islands contains 80 actions which are designed to support and empower our island communities and the people living there.
“It’s all about improving services in housing, health and education, delivering high speed broadband, and further developing our outdoor amenities, which will in turn increase tourism.
“It’s about ensuring our islands have proper infrastructure in terms of water, roads and piers. And it’s about supporting every single island community to develop remote working facilities, ensuring people can live and work in their own community.
“And I’m particularly pleased to have worked with my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, to provide additional funding under Croí Conaithe to support islanders who wish to turn vacant and derelict properties into homes.
“Our Living Islands is an ambitious ten year policy – recognising our commitment to supporting our island communities so that they have a bright and sustainable future.”
Our Living Islands contains a total of 80 commitments under a three year action plan with a focus on improving services in housing, health and education, delivering high speed broadband, increasing tourism, supporting employment and remote working and further developing our outdoor amenities.
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