Minister O’Brien announces the commencement of the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien, today commenced the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant Scheme.

This scheme will provide financial support to affected homeowners in counties Donegal, Mayo, Limerick and Clare whose dwelling had been damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks in its construction.

Grants of up to €420,000 are available for affected homeowners depending on the works required under the scheme.

The Scheme is now open to new applications. Transitional arrangements for the transfer of applicants from the current scheme to the new scheme are in place. Existing applicants to the original scheme will also be able to benefit retrospectively from the enhancements being introduced under the new scheme.

In announcing the scheme Minister O'Brien said:

The enhanced scheme has been legislated for following extensive consultation with all relevant stakeholders. Minister O’Brien in acknowledging the efforts, patience and diligence of all involved stated:

He concluded:

Information on the application process for first-time applicants and homeowners who applied under the previous scheme can be found on the Defective Concrete Blocks page.

Documents providing detailed information on the process, including guidelines to facilitate, promote and support a consistent approach to the operation and administration of the scheme are available on the the Defective Concrete Blocks page. Homeowners are strongly advised and encouraged to read these in advance of reaching out to local authorities. The answers to most questions can be found on the Your Questions Answered page.

It should be borne in mind that, in the early stages of this new scheme, local authorities may well be taking a high volume of calls and queries. As a result homeowners’ continued patience and understanding in bearing with their local council as they manage this heightened workload would be very much appreciated as the new scheme opens for applications and where applications already in the system are transferred across to the new scheme.

Scheme webpage

Please access the Item was unpublished or removed for full details on the scheme.

Background to scheme

The Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, is a grant scheme providing financial support to affected homeowners in designated counties whose dwelling had been damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks in its construction.

The government approved the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022 on 21 June and the Bill passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas and was subsequently enacted by the President on 23 July 2022.

The purpose of this 2022 Act is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the current DCB remediation grant scheme as agreed by Government on 30 November 2021.

The scheme is a major commitment by the State to help impacted homeowners to move on with their lives through a new remediation scheme. Residents of Counties Donegal, Mayo, Limerick and Clare are currently eligible to apply under the new Scheme.

Key features of new Enhanced Scheme

Key features of the Scheme include:

• 100% grants subject to an overall maximum grant of €420,000 per dwelling
• grant rates in keeping with advice from SCSI
• a government guarantee in the form of a second grant option if required for a period of 40 years
• a revised application process which removes the financial barrier to scheme entry
• an independent appeals process for applicants
• alternative accommodation and storage costs and immediate repair works to a maximum value of €25,000
• the expertise of the Housing Agency in assessing applications
• the inclusion of RTB registered rental properties
• the inclusion of Clare and Limerick in the enhanced scheme upon commencement and the option for other counties to enter the scheme
• exempt development status for like for like remediation works completed under the scheme

Regulations

The Regulations entitled the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Regulations 2023 which provide for details for the enhanced scheme not included in the 2022 Act such as application forms and templates, per square metre grant rates and the definition of damage have now been adopted and signed into law.

The Act and Regulations work together and should be read as one document, with the Act being the primary source of the Scheme. Full details of the scheme.

Rates

There are five remedial options available under this grant scheme. The maximum grant approved for each remedial option is determined by the grant rates approved by the Minister and will be sufficient to cover 100% of the necessary works subject to the grant rates and overall grant cap of €420,000. The maximum grant payable will be 100% of the approved grant amount or 100% of the actual vouched cost of the qualifying works carried out, whichever is the lesser. As the remedial works progress, the homeowner will be eligible to apply for grant payments in stages on submission of interim valuation certificates by their competent building professional.

The grant calculation methodology for remediation Option 1 (requiring a home to be demolished and rebuilt) is based on a cost per square metre rate with grant costings set by the department following receipt of recommendations from the Expert Group on the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant Scheme. The Expert Group operationalised updated regional rebuild cost figures for 2023 which the Minister sought from, and had been provided by, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI). In the case of remediation Options 2-5 a similar but necessarily different approach has been taken to inform the appropriate grant rate for blockwork removal and replacement.

Details on the calculation of remediation option grants can be found under 'Part 3: Grants' in the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Regulations 2023 page.

The basic rate per square metre applicable to homes in Donegal and Mayo is €2,045 for the first 180 square metres. The corresponding figure that will apply to homes in Limerick and Clare is €2,160.

Prioritisation under the Scheme

New applications

The Housing Agency will act as agents on behalf of the local authorities under the Enhanced Grant Scheme for all new applications in each of the four counties covered by the Scheme. Applications received by a designated local authority will be referred to the Housing Agency to review the ‘Building Condition Assessment’ (BCA) report and determine if the home has met the ‘damage threshold’ for entry to the scheme.

Once a home has met the damage threshold for entry to the scheme, the Housing Agency will appoint an authorised officer for the purposes of conducting an assessment, sampling, testing and categorisation of dwellings on a priority basis in accordance with the national standard IS 465:2018 to enable the Housing Agency to determine the appropriate remediation option and grant amount.

The Housing Agency will determine the priority in which it may assess dwellings, both under the initial damage threshold (BCA) application stage and the remediation option grant assessment stage. This process will take account of the following:

• the relative severity and impact of damage attributable to the dwelling as a result of defective concrete blocks
• the relative urgency of the need for remediation
• the proximity of the dwelling to other affected properties at time of assessment
• the resources (including financial resources) available or likely to be available to the Housing Agency

Existing applications

For Donegal County Council and Mayo County Council new applications to the scheme will be processed in tandem with progressing applications from homeowners who have applied under the previous scheme. Both Councils are working as quickly as possible to process applications and applicants continued patience is requested.

It will be a matter for the local authority in question to decide on how to prioritise the finalisation of existing applications. They may use appropriate variations of any or all of the criteria referred to above with regard to the Housing Agency. They may also wish to take into account the stage at which an existing application is at in terms of works completed and expenditure incurred by an applicant.