Living City Initiative (LCI)

Living over the Shop Relief

Living over the Shop Relief is available for individuals or companies who:

convert or refurbish a rateable building in a Special Regeneration Area (SRA) during the qualifying period
and
rent the property to someone who will live in it.

Conditions for Living over the Shop Relief

To qualify:

The property must be in an SRA.
The property must have been a rateable property before the conversion or refurbishment.
A portion of the property must be converted to residential and be non-rateable.
You must have a Letter of Certification from the local authority.
You must rent the property to someone who will live in it
and
conversion or refurbishment expenses must exceed €5,000.

Rateable buildings include those subject to an abatement of rates or a waiver (for example a vacancy allowance), as well as buildings on which rates are payable.

How to make a claim?

Relief is claimed on the Revenue Online Service (ROS) using the Income Tax or Corporation Tax Return for the year in which the expenditure is incurred.

Rate of relief

Relief is given as capital allowance against rental income.

For qualifying expenditure:

From 2026 onwards:
- Allowances are given at 50% a year for two years.
- Unused allowances may be carried forward against rental income for up to 10 years.

Grants

You may be entitled to a grant towards the cost of refurbishing or converting the property. When calculating the amount of relief, you must subtract the amount of grant received or receivable from qualifying costs.

Limits

This relief is subject to the passive investor restrictions and the high earner restrictions.

This relief is subject to the de minimis regulation. This means the maximum relief is capped at €300,000 in any three-year period. This limit includes any other aid (grants or tax relief) from de minimis sources.