battlezone123

Has anyone been successful in obtaining a grant for a new roof.

When we approached the Council 4 years ago they said it was possible to obtain a grant for a new roof subject to several provisos ie living here for more than 3 years and you would need to pay an architect. The grant was 100% and was only repayable if you sold the property within 10 years.

We went to the Council offices during the summer to enquire again about a grant and they told us the money for new grants would be released beginning of September. We never heard from them so today we visited the Council again. They told us that the Council decision concerning any grants had now been deferred twice already, and no decision will be made until 2011.

Also that the provisos had changed. The three year rule remained, but grant was now only 45%. Also no architect was needed if the pitch of the roof remained the same.

We have been told to do no work to the roof until we know what is happening, but nothing is guaranteed that there will be money released for grants for replacement of roofs. Also there is no guarantee that we will be even successful with our application.

So we have buckets everywhere catching the rain, a crap roof and Council who does not know what it is doing.

Has anyone been down this route and been successful/tried getting a grant to replace their roof.

Cats-R-Us

Haven't got a grant but did enquire about one. We live in Granada Province of Andalucia. Our farmhouse roof was leaking badly after last winter's rains (we had been told when we bought it 5 years before that the roof "needed looking at" but had been putting off the day). We got quotes from various builders, thought we could manage the cost and went to the Town Hall for the Licence to Work (not planning permission as we already had a roof). We were told about getting a grant and that the time scale to apply was only 2 weeks a year and "we were in luck" as it was 2 weeks away. They then explained that we could not do any work on the roof until a decision had been made on the grant or the application would be cancelled, and that the decision could take up to a year (or more) and even then we may not get the grant. We did not bother to ask the amount of the grant as we thought the building would not stand up to another year with the roof the way it was so decided to go ahead without it. The council then insisted we had an architect draw up a "Memorandum" before they would consider supplying us with a licence and kindly supplied us with the name of an approved architect. Apparently the Memorandum gives information about the work to be done and health and safety. It is not a "Project" which is required for new work so the architect does not have to return to sign off the work as being OK. For this the architect charged us 600 euro, the fact that his drawings were inaccurate didn't seem to worry anyone but us. The licence then cost us 110 euros based on what he said the cost of the work was going to be. The extra work he told the builders that was required put the cost up by another 1,500 euros but hey, what the heck, we're English pensioners so must be rich!!! Luckily my husband had only just begun to get his pension so we weren't used to having extra money available. At the moment it is all going into a fund to pay for the roof, which is now in the process of being replaced.

snikpoh

In my experience it's all a bit of a lottery.

We did look into getting a grant to do a roof on one of our (rental) properties. The local council here allocate a certain sum each year to go towards doing up properties. Specifically new roofs and repainting the exteriors. However, this is a limited budget and soon runs out.

There are so many restrictions attached that we decided not to apply. (You must own the property for at least 10 years after the work is done, not rent it out etc. etc.)

However, there are also grants available for other purposes and I suspect the process etc. is the same.

We decided to put in heating for our pool. We went to a company advertising solar heating and were told that a grant was available for up to 35% of the installation cost.

We went ahead and had the heating put in and applied for a grant. No luck, the budget had all been spent. No problem, we were told, apply again next year - we did and again no luck.

Now whether this was a con or whether there really was a grant available, I don't know - but it does seem quite a lottery as to if and when you might get any help.

jackytoo

Hmmm I suppose there will be grants for some. Very unlikely they will give them to guiris.

JLFS

I have know a few people who have applied for grants, for tarmacing the lanes to their property in Galicia.

Some oif the houses in question have "mini landslides" when it rains a lot.

They have been through the process and oftern have paid for permits and "estudios" etc.

There is a fund that is available in rural areas that is for this purpose, to help people have access to their homes in all weathers.

I only know of one case where the outcome was successful, it was for a large landowner to put in roads on his land, to be able to transport the wood that he plans to cut down in a few years.
He was granted over a hundren thousand euros.
The others are still going through the mud bath to get into their properties.......

I dont know about roof grants, but I suppose the outcome for most will be similar, ie "not available", please apply next year...

Casa Santo Estevo

The "rules" for grants are always changing, it is normal. But as to whether there is any money for such things is doubtful, especially when it is said that Galicia cannot afford new infrastructure projects.
Good luck