Are grants available for conversions?

The grants available to converters vary between authorities, may or may not be means tested and are usually discretionary. It’s definitely worth making an enquiry with the local authority, but straight owner-occupier grants with no strings attached are hard to come by.

There are specific Conversion Grants available (around £10,000 per unit, or no more than 50% of the build cost) involving the conversion of redundant buildings into business premises, which could potentially include a live/work use such as a farm shop or, in some areas, holiday lets. Many local authorities also run a scheme to make converted properties available for rental, granting up to £10-15,000 for one unit, but do require that the house is let out afterwards, to a non-family member, for five years.

Perhaps most pertinent are Empty Property Grants, which in some areas offer anything up to around £25,000 to owner-occupiers who return a dwelling (some local authorities would include an agricultural conversion within this category) that has been empty for six months or more back into use — i.e. up to the Decent Homes standard. However, the local authority may require you to sign a contract to live in the property long term —or even that it is rented out for a period of five years.

For all grants, you need to get planning permission first and have not yet started work. Bear in mind that you will save more on the build cost as conversion is largely free of VAT: see www.hmrc.gov.uk for details.