Vacant commercial property grants: up to €135,000 to turn an empty shop, pub or upper floor into homes

Two grants, depending on whether the business stays

Both grants come from the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund and are run by the councils. Each council has a Vacant Homes Officer who answers questions about them. Which grant applies depends on what happens to the commercial part of the building.

Only one grant is paid per building, and all the owners apply together on one form. Where two or more homes are being created, there is no limit on how many buildings one person can apply for. On the qualifying offshore islands every figure is 20% higher.

Converting a whole empty shop, pub or office

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is best known as a grant for doing up an empty house. It also covers a building that was never a home. We explain the house rules, the caps on each kind of work and the paperwork in our main guide to the refurbishment grant for vacant houses. This page covers what is different for a commercial building.

• One home. You use the ordinary application form and the ordinary amounts: up to €50,000, or up to €70,000 if the building is derelict.
• Two or more homes. There is a separate form, called Conversion of former Commercial/Public Use Building. It adds up to €20,000 for two homes and up to €40,000 for three or more.
• The whole building must be converted. If a business is staying in part of it, use the Above the Shop grant instead.
• Proof of vacancy. For a commercial building the council accepts evidence about commercial rates, such as a vacancy relief, credit or exemption, as well as utility bills.
• Extra paperwork. A preliminary drawing showing how many homes will be created, and evidence that commercial rates are paid or in order.
• Farm buildings are out. Sheds and barns are not eligible.

The council also pays towards works that only a conversion needs: a separate entrance, fire separation, sound insulation, shared stairs and corridors, and a linked fire alarm. Professional fees are covered up to 12% of the net building cost plus VAT, or €15,000 if that is less.

Living over the shop

The Vacant Above the Shop Grant is new in 2026. It pays more than the refurbishment grant, and the building keeps its business.

• The building must have an existing commercial use, such as retail, office or financial, and be liable for commercial rates.
• The ground floor can be trading or empty when you apply, but it must stay commercial.
• The space being converted must have been vacant for two years. If it was only ever used for storage, photographs or a sworn statement can prove that.
• A single-storey building qualifies too, where empty space beside the business can become a home.
• There is no extra amount for dereliction. The grant depends only on the number of homes.

You sign a declaration that the commercial part will remain. If it goes within ten years, up to €25,000 of the grant has to be repaid, reduced for each year that has passed. The scheme's own example: if the business part is removed in year three, 70% of the €25,000 is repayable, which is €17,500.

The scheme outline notes that the Local Enterprise Office can tell you about grants for the commercial part of the building. Start with our plain guide to what a Local Enterprise Office pays for.

Who can and cannot apply

• Individuals and sole traders: yes, if you own the building or are actively buying it. An approval in principle can be given before the sale closes.
• Landlords: yes. You do not have to live there. Homes that are let must have a tenancy registered with the Residential Tenancies Board before the grant is paid, and you send proof of registration every year for ten years.
• Limited companies, developers and other undertakings: no. Both scheme outlines say so.
• Short-term lets: no. The homes cannot be used for Airbnb or holiday letting.

A company that owns an empty commercial building has a different route. The Repair and Leasing Scheme is open to any owner of a vacant property. Under it, the council or a housing body lends up to €80,000 per home, interest free, to bring a property vacant for at least 12 months up to rental standard. In return the homes are leased for social housing for 5 to 25 years and the loan is repaid out of the rent. The Department's example is a vacant former shop turned into four homes with a loan of up to €320,000, and it says builders and developers are using the scheme.

In the historic centres of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford, the Living City Initiative gives tax relief on refurbishment or conversion work done before 31 December 2027. A grant is taken off the cost you can claim relief on.

Planning permission: the change of use exemption

Turning a shop into a home is a change of use, which normally needs planning permission. Regulations first made in 2018 exempt certain vacant commercial premises, and in December 2025 the exemption was extended to 31 December 2028.

• The building, or the part being converted, must have been vacant for at least two years immediately before the works start.
• The works must be finished by 31 December 2028.
• You must notify the council's planning section in writing at least two weeks before the change of use starts.
• No more than nine homes can be created under the exemption.
• It covers certain classes of commercial use. The Department's guidance mentions vacant areas over ground-floor premises and former pubs.
• It cannot be used to break a condition of an existing planning permission.

The exemption does not switch off the building regulations or fire safety rules. For the grant, where there is any doubt, the council will ask for a formal declaration that the work is exempt before it gives final approval. For a conversion into several homes it may also ask for a validated Certificate of Compliance on Completion before it pays.

How to apply, step by step

1. Talk to the Vacant Homes Officer in the council where the building is.
2. Consider the Expert Advice Grant first. It pays up to €5,000 towards a report from a qualified professional on the works, the rules and the likely cost. You are not obliged to go any further afterwards.
3. Sort out planning: the exemption notice, a declaration, or permission.
4. Apply on the right form, with proof of ownership, proof of vacancy, proof the building predates 2008, a quotation, the drawing and evidence about your rates.
5. The council's technical staff visit, assess the costs and write to you with the approved amount.
6. Finish the works within 18 months of the approval letter.
7. Send detailed invoices, tax clearance for yourself and your contractors, and the signed charge. After a final inspection the council pays.

The strings attached

• Ten years. If a home is sold, stops being your own home or stops being let within ten years, all or part of the grant is repaid: the full share in the first five years and 75% of it between years five and ten.
• A charge on the building. The council registers a charge over the whole building for ten years. The main banks have already agreed to this. With any other lender you need its consent. The charge ranks behind the mortgage.
• Work you do yourself. The grant covers materials only, not your labour.
• No double funding. Works paid for by another grant, such as an SEAI grant, cannot be claimed again.
• Refusal. You can appeal in writing within three weeks. A different official reviews it, which can take up to six weeks.

If the ground floor is going to a new business, check whether the council cuts the rates for a business that takes on an empty unit.

Common questions