Vacant property refurbishment grant scheme expands in Mayo

The Croí Cónaithe Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme was launched in 2022 under the Government’s Housing for All Policy. It was initially aimed at tackling vacancy and dereliction in urban centres; however, funding has increased over the years, and the scheme has expanded to include rural dwellings. It will further expand in 2026 to encompass commercial properties and ‘over the shop’ residential units.

Tom Gilligan, Director of Services in Mayo County Council said: “The grants and schemes that our Vacant Homes Office administer have real potential to change the landscape of our towns and rural communities.The grants support property owners to bring back much needed vacant and derelict properties into residential use. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is available to those wishing to either live in the property as their principal private residence or make the property available for rent’.

In Mayo, the scheme has garnered considerable interest. Since the scheme’s inception Mayo County Council’s Vacant Homes Office has processed nearly 1,000 applications, with over €11,000,000 paid out to successful applicants to date. 

The interest in the scheme continues to grow and the Vacant Homes team is receiving new applications every day. Due to the demand for the grant, and the expansion of the scheme, Mayo County Council has decided to migrate from the paper-based application format to an online portal on a phased basis. We have partnered with MyCoCo.ie which is an established build to share digital solution that enables Local Authorities to provide online services to the public.

MyCoCo.ie developed Phase I of the platform for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant last year and it was piloted by Cavan County Council in June 2025 with great success. Cavan County Council have reported that their processing times have been cut by up to 50 percent since the introduction of the online portal.

It is anticipated that phase I of the portal will reduce processing times for new applications. This will reduce the length of time it takes for an application to reach the inspection stage and ultimately approval. The applicants then have 13 months to complete their works and submit their grant claim. Phase II of the platform will come on stream later in 2026 which will deal with the processing of grant claims and progress applications to final inspection and payment.

Mayo County Council’s Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant online portal will launch on March 2. The Vacant Homes team will continue to accept applications by post and email up to February 27.

Please contact the Vacant Homes Team at vacanthomes@mayococo.ie for an up-to-date information pack which includes detailed instructions on how to make an application. A link to the portal will be available from March 2.

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