Living City Initiative - Bringing life back into the heart of Dundalk and Drogheda
The Living City initiative is a tax incentive that encourages people to live in historic central urban areas It offers four types of tax relief for money spent on:
- Refurbishing or converting homes for owner-occupiers.
- Refurbishing or converting homes rental properties (landlords).
- Upgrading commercial properties, with accelerated tax allowances for refurbishment or conversion.
- Living over the shop relief.
This scheme helps regenerate older urban areas and supports creating more homes in established locations. It allows you to claim tax relief for the money you spend on refurbishment or conversion of residential property either as income tax relief (for an owner-occupied residence) or capital allowance (for rented properties), see FAQ below.
It now covers residential properties built before 1975 in designated areas.
A new tax relief will support converting "over the shop" spaces into homes.
The aim of the Living City initiative is to bring life back into the heart of Dundalk and Drogheda by offering tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of certain buildings where conditions are met.
SRA Map Drogheda
SI 155 2026 Drogheda
SRA Map Dundalk
SI 153 2026 Dundalk
Living City initiative FAQ May 2026
Application Form Residential
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 1975 and be located in a Special Regeneration Area of Dundalk or Drogheda.
- 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, or €300,000 (over a rolling three-year period) in order to comply with EU State Aide De Minimis rules.
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 (SRA's) of each city has been designated by Order of the Minister of Finance- see links above to Special Regeneration Area Maps.
The scheme for all reliefs will end on 31st December 2030. Only refurbishment/ conversion work carried out during the above timeframes will qualify for relief. Further information can be accessed here.
For further information, please contact:
Conservation, Planning Section,
Louth County Council,
Townhall,
Crowe Street,
Dundalk
Telephone: 042 -9335457
Email: livingcity@louthcoco.ie
Information on Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant can be found here or by emailing vacantpropertygrant@louthcoco.ie.
