Renovation Grant

This grant is available for the improvement and/or repair of houses or flats and the conversion of properties into houses or flats for letting.

The grant is available:

• If your dwelling falls below the fitness standard, please contact an Environment Officer in the Residential Standards Team. If the Council is satisfied that renovation is the best option for dealing with it, then a grant may be given.
• To put a dwelling into reasonable repair. Such works could include replacement of things such as ineffective damp-proof course, defective guttering, unsatisfactory electrical wiring and repairs to roofs, timbers, walls, foundations, staircases etc.
  Insulation works such as insulation to lofts, water tanks, pipes, cavity wall insulation, and damp proofing. In some cases secondary or double-glazing may be considered.
• To convert under-used dwellings or non-residential buildings (or part of them) into houses or self contained flats. This purpose could include making two or more properties into one larger property to meet the needs of a large or extended family.
  Grants will not normally be available for internal decoration.

You can apply for the grant if you are:

• An owner-occupier with a freehold (or leasehold with at least five years of the lease remaining) and the dwelling must be your, or a member of your family's only or main residence. You must also show that you have lived in the dwelling as your only or main residence for the preceding three years.
• A landlord with a freehold (or leasehold with at least five years of the lease remaining) and the dwelling must be let on a residential basis (and not, for example, as a holiday home).
• A tenant and you are liable under the terms of your lease or tenancy for carrying out the works in question. You must also show that you have lived in the dwelling as your only or main residence for the preceding three years. You cannot apply if you are a Council tenant.

The aim of the grants system is to provide financial help for those who can least afford to pay for works to their properties. Therefore owner-occupiers and tenants will be required to explore obtaining private finance, and will be subject to a means test. Any amount of grant received will be the difference between the amount you are assessed as being able to afford and the total cost of the eligible works. A local authority has discretion on how to calculate the amount of grant to offer to landlords.

If you would like to apply for a renovation grant contact our Customer Services Centre to request an application form. Grants cannot be given for works that have already been carried out.

An application will not be valid unless made on the appropriate form, completed in full and accompanied by any supporting material required. Please ensure you have secured any building regulations or planning approval which is required before applying.

You will be asked to state in a certificate whether you intend to live in the property as an owner-occupier or tenant or to make it available for letting. This is a grant condition, breach of which can trigger a demand for repayment of the grant. You may also be asked to show that you have lived in the property for three years prior to the application.