The prospect of moving out of your home to facilitate works can be daunting at the best of times, but the lack of rental properties makes the process even more unappealing
Some 44 per cent of respondents said they believed the availability of finance/lack of sufficient grant funding were negatively impacting the ability to reach the targets, while 41 per cent claimed labour supply shortages were the main barrier. Rising construction costs were also clearly a factor. While SEAI grants are available to cover up to half the costs of a retrofit, it is clear that many homeowners do not have access to the upfront sums required to undertake them. Many will attempt to do it piecemeal. Jennifer Whitmore TD for Wicklow was one of these, who lived in her house while retrofitting it over a two-year period. While very pleased with the results, she described it variously as “way too expensive”, “a bureaucratic nightmare” and most colourfully as a “pain in the arse”.