Living City Initiative

What is the Living City Initiative

The Living City initiative focuses on the regeneration of retail and commercial districts and encouraging people to live in the historic centres of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

The aim of the Living City initiative is to bring life back into the heart of the relevant cities by offering tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of certain buildings where conditions are met.

Living City Initiative Application Form

Does my property qualify?

To qualify for the scheme, your property must: 

• Have been built before 1915 (does not apply to commercial properties) 
• Be located within the designated ‘Special Regeneration Area’ (SRA) 
• Cost of the works undertaken are for a minimum of €5,000 (capped at €200,000 relief available  for commercial element) 
• Works are for refurbishment/ conversion of the property 
• Works are undertaken:  
• before 31st December 2027 and started after 5th May 2015 for owner-occupied residential  relief  
• retail commercial relief or 1st January 2017 for rented residential relief 
• Works meet the qualifying expenditure criteria 
• Works comply with all development requirements such as planning regulations and building  regulations 
• Conditions for immediate occupation of the property (after works are completed) have been  met

What can I claim? 

There are three types of tax relief available and the qualifying periods are as follows: 

Residential element of the initiative

• The residential element of the Living City initiative provides for an income tax deduction for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of a building for use as a dwelling over a ten year period.
• The building must have been constructed before 1915 and be located in a Special Regeneration Area of the city in question.
• The property must be occupied by the claimant as his / her sole or main residence in order to avail of the income tax relief.

Commercial element of the initiative

• The commercial element of the Living City initiative provides for capital allowances over a seven year period in respect of qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of a property located in a Special Regeneration Area for use for the purpose of retailing goods or the provision of services within the State.
• The amount of tax relief available under the commercial element of the initiative is effectively capped at €200,000 for any individual project.

Commercial Relief is applied for directly through Revenue Commissioners. You are advised to contact the Revenue Commissioners with queries on the commercial element of the scheme.
https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/living-city-initiative/index.aspx

Special Regeneration Area

The Special Regeneration Area of each city has been designated by Order of the Minister of Finance and is available to view in the following map:

Special Regeneration Area, Galway

The scheme for all reliefs will end on 31st December 2027. Only refurbishment/ conversion work carried out during the above timeframes will qualify for relief. Further information can be accessed here.