Guide · checked 19 September 2026

Home improvement grants in Ireland 2026: which grant for which job

There is no single home improvement grant in Ireland. The right grant depends on the job you need done and who lives in the home. Almost all of them must be approved before any work starts.

The short answer

No one grant pays for general home improvements. Instead there are separate schemes, each for one kind of work or one kind of household.

Councils run the grants for repairs, mobility and disability work, empty houses, wells, septic tanks and lead pipes. SEAI runs the energy grants: insulation, heat pumps, heating controls, windows and doors, and solar panels.

Two questions decide which one fits. What is the job? And who lives in the house: someone aged 66 or over, someone with a disability, someone on a qualifying welfare payment, or none of these?

If you are paying for a bigger energy upgrade, there is also a government backed loan for your share of the cost. It is a loan, not a grant, and you pay it back.

Which grant for which job

Find the job in the table. Some jobs appear twice, because more than one grant can pay for them depending on who you are. The figures are the most each grant pays. Many of them pay a share of the cost based on household income.

Roof, wiring, window, door and heating repairs in a home someone already lives in are covered by Housing Aid for Older People, for people aged 66 or over. The council can help someone younger in cases of hardship.

SEAI, Warmer Homes, Housing Aid for Older People and the Vacant Property grant do not pay for a new oil or gas boiler. Housing Aid for Older People can repair an existing one, replace radiators, tanks and pipework, or fit electric or biomass heating.

If someone in the home is 66 or over

Housing Aid for Older People pays for essential repairs so an older person can go on living at home: the roof, electrical wiring, windows and doors, and central heating. The council can also fund other repairs it thinks are needed.

It pays up to €10,700 or 100% of the cost, whichever is less, depending on household income for the previous tax year after disregards. This grant can include the VAT.

Citizens Information and the gov.ie means test guide say the income of all adults living in the home counts. The gov.ie service page mentions only the owner and spouse, so if other adults live with you, ask your council how it counts them. Carer's Allowance, Fuel Allowance, the Household Benefits Package and Living Alone Allowance are among the payments not counted.

If getting around the house is the problem, look at the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Adaptation Grant below. One council form covers all three grants.

If someone in the home has a disability

The Housing Adaptation Grant is the main council grant for adapting a home. It pays up to €40,000 or 100% of the cost, whichever is less, for ramps, space for wheelchair access, an accessible shower or ground-floor toilet, a stairlift or through-floor lift, grab rails, a fixed track hoist, or an extension such as a downstairs bedroom.

There is no grant if household income is over €75,000. It does not cover VAT, but Revenue may refund VAT on aids and appliances.

The Mobility Aids Grant is a simpler, fast-track grant for basic work: grab rails, an accessible shower, ramps, a stairlift or a fixed track hoist. It pays up to €8,000 and can cover 100% of the cost, for households with income under €37,500. It is for older people and people with disabilities.

A stairlift or a fixed track hoist needs an occupational therapist (OT) report, and so does an extension or a through-floor lift under the Housing Adaptation Grant. The council can arrange the OT, or you can hire one yourself and get up to €300 back as part of the grant.

Social housing tenants cannot get either grant, but can ask the council about the Disabled Person's Grant Scheme.

If you are on a low income or a qualifying welfare payment

The Warmer Homes Scheme is the fully free option. SEAI checks your home, decides which upgrades suit it, mostly attic and wall insulation, and appoints a contractor. You are not charged.

You must own the home and live in it, it must have been built and occupied before 2006, and you must get one of these payments:

• Fuel Allowance
• Working Family Payment
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Carer's Allowance, if you live with the person you care for
• Jobseeker's Allowance for over 6 months, with a child under 7
• Disability Allowance for over 6 months, with a child under 7

The wait is long. SEAI says a contractor currently makes contact about 15 months after you apply, and Citizens Information says the whole process usually takes 24 to 26 months. The Household Benefits Package on its own does not qualify, and tenants cannot apply.

People on qualifying welfare payments also get higher SEAI insulation grants: up to €2,500 instead of €2,000 for attic insulation, and up to €2,300 instead of €1,800 for cavity wall insulation (the figures for a detached house). You pay upfront and SEAI refunds the grant, and you keep your Warmer Homes place.

The council home grants are means tested on household income, not on which payment you get. At household income up to €37,500, Housing Aid for Older People (for people aged 66 or over) and the Housing Adaptation Grant (for a person with a disability) pay 100% of the cost up to their maximum, though the Housing Adaptation Grant does not cover VAT. Below €37,500, the Mobility Aids Grant is also open to you if someone in the home has mobility problems.

Grants with no income limit

The official pages set no income limit for these. What matters is the home, the work, and in some cases a notice or letter from the council.

• SEAI individual energy grants: one upgrade at a time, such as attic or wall insulation, windows and doors, a heat pump or heating controls. Insulation grants need a home built and occupied before 2011 (before 31 December 2010 for walls). Heat pump and solar grants need a home built and occupied before 2021.
• SEAI One Stop Shop: a full upgrade to at least a B BER, managed for you, with the grants taken off the bill upfront. The home must have been built and occupied before 2011.
• Solar PV Grant: up to €1,800 toward solar panels, for homes built and occupied before 2021.
• Septic Tank Grant: 85% of the cost, up to €12,000, to repair, upgrade or replace a septic tank. You need an Advisory Notice from an inspection, or a letter from the council, to qualify.
• Lead Pipe Replacement Grant: 100% of the qualifying work, up to €5,000, to replace lead pipes that carry your drinking water.
• Private well grant: 85% of approved costs up to €3,000 to fix a well, or up to €5,000 for a new well, plus up to €1,000 for water treatment. It is for a home whose well water fails tests or does not give enough water, and that cannot reasonably be connected to a public or group water scheme. There is no means test, and the house must have been fully built more than 7 years ago.
• Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant: up to €50,000 to do up a home empty for 2 years or more and built before 2008, or €70,000 if it is derelict. You must live in it or rent it out afterwards.

The Home Energy Upgrade Loan lends €5,000 to €75,000 over 1 to 10 years for your share of an SEAI supported upgrade done through a One Stop Shop. It is open until 31 December 2026, unless the money runs out first. SEAI and the SBCI do not publish a rate. They say it is significantly lower than usual market rates and differs between lenders, and each lender makes its own credit decision.

Before you start any work

Get approval in writing first. Housing Aid for Older People, the Mobility Aids Grant, the Housing Adaptation Grant, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and the private well grant will not pay for work that started before the council approved it.

SEAI grants work the same way. Apply and accept your grant offer before any work starts. You have 30 days to accept, and the offer lasts 8 months. For solar panels, wait for your Letter of Offer.

The lead pipe grant is the exception. You claim after the work is done, but you need your evidence of lead, and must meet the terms and conditions, before the work starts. Jobs costing under €750 do not qualify.

The septic tank grant needs your Advisory Notice or council letter first. Your system must be registered with the council, and the work must follow the EPA 2021 Code of Practice.

What each grant asks of your contractor:

• Council repair, mobility and disability grants: once approved, send the council your contractor's quote and tax reference number.
• SEAI individual grants: an SEAI registered contractor, registered for that exact type of work, with a written contract. A post-works BER is needed before any grant is paid.
• Solar PV Grant: an SEAI registered solar PV company, the one named in your offer.
• Warmer Homes Scheme: SEAI appoints the contractor, and you cannot change it.
• One Stop Shop and the Home Energy Upgrade Loan: an SEAI registered One Stop Shop manages the work. For the loan, you cannot use your own builder.
• Private well grant: three quotes for all the work, and a current tax clearance certificate for each contractor.
• Lead Pipe Replacement Grant: the contractor's tax clearance details, itemised receipts, and certification that the materials and work meet a proper standard.
• Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant: tax clearance from each contractor before you pay them.

The law says building work on your home must be done by competent people. The Health and Safety Authority has a guide for homeowners.

Watch for overlap. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant will not pay for work already funded by SEAI, and SEAI will not pay the same grant twice for one home (wall insulation is the one exception). Work out which grant pays for which part before you start.

If a council refuses a grant, you can usually appeal in writing within 3 weeks of the decision. Someone who was not involved in the first decision looks at it again.

Common questions