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Woman claims government's 'empty home grant' is a 'PR stunt'
Abigail, who purchased a property in Pembrokeshire in June 2024, claimed the Welsh Government's Empty Home Grant is a 'scam' - saying she was ignored…
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Welsh Homeowner Labels Government's Empty Homes Grant a 'PR Scam' After Seven-Month Delay
A homeowner in Wales has come forward to share her deeply frustrating experience with the Welsh Government's Empty Homes Grant, describing the scheme as a "PR scam" that significantly delayed her renovation project. Abigail Jay, who purchased a dilapidated property in June 2024, applied for the grant, which offers up to £25,000 to make empty homes habitable. She invested her life savings and inheritance into the property, hoping the grant would alleviate the financial burden of the extensive renovations. Ms. Jay detailed a process riddled with bureaucratic hurdles and a severe lack of communication from the Pembrokeshire Empty Homes Grant team. "I applied for this grant as soon as the sale went through on the property," she stated in her recent online video. A key restriction was that no work could be carried out before grant approval, forcing her to halt progress. After two months, engineers inspected the property and provided a schedule of works, which included mandatory structural and asbestos reports. Despite diligently obtaining quotes for these works, Ms. Jay claims her application was "stonewalled by the grants office for four months." She expressed her dismay, noting, "I'm no longer surprised that only one person in this county has qualified for the grant scheme and had a payout from them." The ongoing silence ultimately delayed her renovation by over seven months, leading her to lose all confidence in the process. In a final attempt to resolve the issue, Ms. Jay sent an email to the grant team, stating, "I have not received any updates since the 8th of January despite several follow-up emails in the months since. This ongoing silence has now delayed my renovation project by over six months." Faced with indefinite delays, she eventually secured a £50,000 loan to fund the renovations herself. "I felt like the renovation had actually been sabotaged by the grants office," she concluded, highlighting her belief that the scheme is more about public relations than genuinely helping homeowners.
