The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has expanded the availability of its Deep Retrofit grant by offering it to more modern builds.

SEAI removed the requirement for a house to be built before 2006 to qualify for the grant, making it available for all Irish homes.

The announcement was made at this year's Deep Retrofit Conference in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on 14 June.

SEAI's Conor Hanniffy revealed that the grant can fund 50 per cent of the building cost of bringing your home up to an A3 on the Building Energy Rating scale.

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An additional 5 per cent of the total project cost, including all professional and related fees, is available for project management plus another 2 per cent of the total project cost when you at least reach the A3 rating and comply with design requirements.

The grant now also offers an additional 1 per cent of the total project cost if you achieve an airtightness result of 3m3/sqm/hr — the current requirement for new builds is 7m3/sqm/hr. It is mandatory to install mechanical ventilation and preworks airtightness plans must be in place.

In total this is the equivalent of a 60 per cent subsidy on building costs. 

In order to qualify for the grant, an application must be grouped with four other homes and submitted with a professionally detailed design and building plan.

The Deep Retrofit grant is only in its pilot scheme, which is expected to run until the end of 2019.

(CM/MH)