Here’s what the official terms and the practical/legal situation look like for the Vacant/Derelict Property Refurbishment Grant in Ireland — specifically around clawback and what happens if the grant recipient dies within the 10-year period:
📌 Clawback Basics
Under the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant (including the derelict top-up), local authorities register a legal charge on the property title for 10 years as security for the grant you receive. If you sell, stop living in the property as agreed, or the property ceases to be available for rent (where applicable) within that 10-year window, the local authority may require repayment on a sliding scale:
- 0–5 years: repay 100% of the grant amount
- 5–10 years: repay 75% of the grant amount
- After 10 years: no repayment required
This charge and clawback condition are part of the legal agreement you sign with the local authority when you draw down the grant.
❓ What Happens if You Die During the 10-Year Clawback Period
The scheme documentation and published guidance describe how the clawback mechanism kicks in on sale, change of use, or ceasing to live in the property — not specific events like death. They do not explicitly state what happens in the case of the grant recipient’s death. However:
1. The clawback is tied to the title charge, not just to you personally.
When the grant is paid, a legal charge is registered against the property for 10 years, securing the local authority’s interest. That charge remains on the title until the 10-year period expires.
2. On death, ownership usually transfers to your estate or beneficiaries.
If the property remains in the estate (e.g., you die intestate or leave it to someone), the title with that charge stays in place until the 10-year period runs out. That means the local authority’s security continues to bind whoever owns the property. The clawback provisions don’t disappear on death — the charge remains enforceable on the property itself. This is consistent with how these registered charges typically operate.
3. If the estate sells the property within the clawback period:
Any sale (whether due to estate administration or otherwise) is a disposition of the property, and would normally trigger the repayment obligations under the clawback scale. So yes, if the property is sold within 10 years after you received the grant, the estate would generally have to repay the appropriate amount to the local authority before or as part of the settlement of that sale.
4. If the inheritor keeps the property beyond 10 years:
If your estate or heirs retain the property and do not trigger a taxable event such as sale or change of use within the 10-year period, then no clawback payment would be triggered when the 10 years passes.
📌 Practical Takeaway
- There’s no explicit clause in the published terms saying “you owe the clawback on death,” but the legal charge on the title remains in place for 10 years.
- That charge means the local authority can enforce clawback against the property if it is sold or its use changes within that 10-year window.
- This effectively means that if you die and your estate sells the property within 10 years, the estate would likely need to pay back the relevant portion of the grant before distributing any sale proceeds.
- If your estate or heirs keep the property and don’t sell or change its use until after 10 years from grant payment, then no clawback repayment would be due.
📌 What You Can Do
To be sure how this would work in your personal/legal situation (especially for estate planning), you could:
- Review the clawback/charge document that the local authority will register — it will set out exactly how the legal charge operates.
- Ask your solicitor to confirm how a death and transfer on succession interacts with that charge and clawback.
- Consider estate planning options (e.g., structuring ownership) with legal advice, if this is a concern.
Summit Matters offer this information as our interpretation of the rules around the grant.
For certainty make sure you speak with your solicitor and ask their advice.
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