A guide to housing grants to secure your Carlow home
Picture used for illustration purposes
IN the last few months, the Department of Housing has allocated funding for several grant programmes to help Co Carlow tackle vacancy, improve accessibility in homes and help first-time buyers to make the leap into home ownership.
Carlow’s housing stock has grown steadily in recent years, rising from 25,474 residential connections in 2022 to 26,122 by the end of 2024, marking an increase of 648 homes over two years. However, with the county’s population expected to reach 64,000 by 2028, there are some 1,500 additional households that will require housing.
The government and local authority has, therefore, focused on ways to bring vacant properties back into use and there are several schemes now in place to help finance refurbishments.
Carlow has one of the lowest residential vacancy rates in Ireland, with 653 dwellings deemed vacant in the fourth quarter of 2024 based on negligible electricity usage. This equates to 2.5% of all homes in the county, according to 2025 data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). This is significantly below the national average of 3.2%.
The Vacant Property Refurbishment grant provides up to €70,0000 in funding to those who wish to renovate a property that has not been lived in for at least the last two years. The government recently announced additional funding worth €40,000 for former commercial buildings being converted into two or more residential units.
There are also 51 vacant commercial units in Carlow town as of April, according to data obtained from Carlow Co Council through a freedom of information request, of which 33 have ‘over-the-shop’ commercial or residential units.
To bring these properties back into use, the newly-established Vacant Above the Shop Grant will provide funding of up to €135,000 per property. It is applicable where a space above a shop has been vacant for at least two years, but it is not required that ground floor space is vacant, as the government wishes to support ongoing commercial businesses.
If this sounds very complicated, an Expert Advice Grant has been made available to offer funding of up to €5,000 for people to receive professional advice on the conversion of these spaces, as well as on the conversion of former commercial spaces to residential units.
The price ceiling for houses and apartments eligible under the First Home Scheme in Co Carlow has increased by €25,000 to €375,000 as of 1 January, bringing more properties within range for prospective homeowners.
The revised ceiling applies to houses (including self-builds) and apartments and is intended to allow buyers who were previously excluded because their preferred home exceeded the local price limit to now qualify for support. Since its launch in 2022 up to September 2025, there have been 62 First Home Scheme approvals in Carlow.
The €740 million scheme provides financial support to borrowers by bridging the gap between the available mortgage, the deposit required and the price of a new home. Nationally, 8,399 buyers in all 26 counties have been approved under the scheme up to the third quarter of 2025, with over €273 million in support provided to people who have bought or self-built their homes.
The Housing Adaptation Grant Scheme offers grants of up to €40,000 to help people with disabilities to adapt their home, while grants of up to €10,700 are available to support necessary home repairs for older people.
In total, €2,455,649 was allocated to Carlow from central government, with €2,087,301 coming from the exchequer, while the remaining €368,348 will come from Carlow Co Council.
There are also mobility aid grants of up to €8,000 for works such as stairlifts, access ramps and walk-in showers.
The government announced a €30 million increase in this funding stream for 2026 compared with last year, with the total coming to €129.5 million nationally. A further €22.5 million will be contributed to the scheme by local authorities. This is expected to support around 17,000 grant claims nationwide.
Those who may qualify for these grants, or who have a family member who could benefit from them, should contact their local authority to find out more about the application process.
