Irish Council for Social Housing says grants could now cover up to 90% of home upgrade costs
The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) says new funding means State grants could cover up to 90% of upgrade costs on some of the most energy inefficient homes its members support, and represents a ‘potential game-changer’ for their work.
The National Retrofit Plan 2026, announced by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, is worth over €500m and means people or organisations, such as approved housing bodies, looking to improve insulation or energy efficiency could receive thousands of euro towards the cost of a project.
CEO of the Irish Council for Social Housing Donal McManus says the scheme’s provisions will be of great benefit for the AHBs his organisation represents: “This is a potential game-changer – it will help to increase the energy efficiency of our lowest-performing homes and reduce running costs for low-income tenants.
AHBs have a good track record of retrofitting the poorest performing of their 70,000 homes. However, grant levels under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme – known as the One Stop Shop – have typically averaged around 50% of overall costs, making it increasingly prohibitive for many AHBs.
Under this new scheme, the grant value will increase to approximately 75% of overall upgrade costs, rising to up to 80% for homes experiencing fuel poverty. In addition, support from the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme (EEOS) could push funding to more than 90% of the total project costs.”
The Housing Alliance Climate Action Working Group, which works alongside the ICSH, has been calling for a substantial increase in SEAI retrofit grants, aimed at targeting the most energy inefficient homes within the sector. With sustained additional funding, the AHB sector has the potential to double its annual retrofit output.
This additional funding will reinvigorate AHBs’ annual retrofit programmes enabling wider participation of AHBs and supporting delivery in harder-to-reach homes, including those with very low BER ratings, rural stock, apartments and detached homes.
Susan Vickers, Chair of the Housing Alliance Climate Action Working Group and Head of Environmental Sustainability at Clúid says “I want to acknowledge the hard work of the Climate Action Working Group, along with the support of the ICSH and in particular the invaluable guidance of Sustainability Works, in achieving our ambition to increase much needed retrofit funding for the AHB sector. With these improvements to the current funding model, our members, and the wider AHB sector can scale up and increase the speed of retrofit works ensuring that our residents will benefit from warmer homes and reduced energy bills.”
Jennifer Whitty, Sustainability Manager with Tuath Housing says “This outcome is testament to what can happen when a sector comes together to address common challenges in taking climate action. Our external stakeholders not only listened but took action, enabling AHBs to access greater grant funding, make a real impact on decarbonisation of the sector and ultimately provide our tenants with warmer, more comfortable homes.”
David McCourt, Director of Asset Management & Property Services at Co-operative Housing Ireland added “This enhanced level of SEAI support is very significant for the AHB sector. Existing SEAI grants of up to 50% have already assisted Co-operative Housing Ireland deliver over 350 home retrofits to our homes, improving comfort and reducing energy costs for our residents. Increased grant levels will allow us to scale this work more quickly, reach our lowest-performing homes, and help address the capital investment challenges in legacy schemes such as CLSS.”