Living City Initiative: Now Available for Property Owners in Dundalk Town Centre
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Great news for many property owners in the heart of Dundalk.
The Living City Initiative is now fully up and running in Dundalk. This is a government tax incentive designed to help bring vacant, underused and older buildings back into productive use, whether as homes people can live in or as commercial premises.
If you own a property in the designated Special Regeneration Area (SRA) in Dundalk town centre, you may be able to claim significant tax relief on the cost of refurbishing or converting it.
Is my property included?
The scheme only applies to properties inside the official Special Regeneration Area.
You can view the official SRA map here:
If your building sits inside the red boundary on that map, it is worth checking further.
Who can benefit?
There are four main types of relief:
Owner-occupier relief If you refurbish or convert a property and live in it as your main home, you can claim an income tax deduction on the qualifying costs. For work done from 2023 onwards, this is generally 15% of the cost each year for the first six years and 10% in the seventh year.
Rented residential (landlord) relief If you improve a property to rent it out as a home, you can claim capital allowances on the qualifying expenditure (currently written off at 50% per year over two years for expenditure from 1 January 2026).
Commercial relief For refurbishing or converting premises for retail or service use. Again, accelerated capital allowances apply (same 50% over two years rate for recent expenditure). There is a de minimis cap of €300,000 over a rolling three-year period.
Living Over the Shop relief A newer element that supports converting vacant upper floors or commercial space above shops into residential units. No building-age restriction applies to this category.
Key eligibility points (residential elements):
The property must generally have been built before 1975.
It must be located inside the Special Regeneration Area (see SRA map above).
Works must be genuine refurbishment or conversion (not a full new build).
Minimum qualifying expenditure is usually €5,000.
A Letter of Certification from Louth County Council is required for most residential claims.
The entire scheme runs until 31 December 2030. Only expenditure incurred before that date can qualify, so earlier action is better.
What should I do next?
Check the official map to see if your property is inside the boundary.
Contact Louth County Council’s Conservation/Planning section for advice and the residential application form:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 042 933 5457
For commercial claims, contact the Revenue Commissioners directly.
Speak to your accountant or tax adviser about how the relief would work in your specific situation.
Full details, application forms and Revenue guidance are available on the Louth County Council Living City page:
https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/planning/living-cities-initiative/
Why this matters for Dundalk
In some cases many buildings in our town centre have been sitting empty or underused for years. This scheme gives property owners a real financial incentive to invest in them.
This is also a great incentive because working people can avail of to improve the houses they live in.
If you have a property in the area and are unsure whether it qualifies, feel free to get in touch with me. I’m happy to point you in the right direction or raise any practical issues with the Council.
