Protecting Your Belongings During Defective Block Remediation

For families affected by defective concrete blocks, remediation is much more than a building project. It can mean moving out of the family home, arranging alternative accommodation and placing most of your belongings into storage for a year, or possibly longer.

This is something I understand personally. I  Dessie Houlihan of Barons Self Storage, and my family and I are going through the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme ourselves. That experience has given us a genuine appreciation of the uncertainty involved, the amount of planning required and the mammoth task of rebuilding your family home.

The scheme provides financial support to qualifying homeowners whose properties have been damaged by defective concrete blocks. The process begins with a Building Condition Assessment carried out by a competent building professional. The local authority validates the application before referring it to the Housing Agency, which assesses eligibility, arranges the required technical testing and determines the appropriate remediation option.

There are five remediation options under the scheme. These range from demolishing and rebuilding the entire dwelling to replacing the affected outer leaf of particular walls. The correct option depends on the condition of the individual property and the findings of the technical assessment. The overall grant cap is currently €462,000, although the amount approved will depend on the remediation option, the applicable grant rates and the actual qualifying costs.

A revised national testing standard, I.S. 465:2026, was published in 2026. It is intended to provide a more comprehensive assessment of affected homes and the remediation options available. The Housing Agency has advised that applications and approved works will continue to progress while the effect of the revised standard is considered as part of a statutory review of the scheme.

When the contents of a home must be stored for 12 months or longer, the storage environment matters. Furniture, clothing, photographs, documents and electrical items can be vulnerable to dampness, condensation and significant changes in temperature.

At Barons Self Storage Limerick, our units provide a clean, dry and temperature-controlled environment. Our thermostatically controlled industrial heating system turns on automatically if the temperature falls below 14°C, helping to protect your household belongings during an extended period in storage.

Having experienced the scheme ourselves, we understand that customers are not simply planning an ordinary house move. They may be dealing with technical reports, grant approvals, builders’ programmes and alternative accommodation, often without knowing exactly how long the process will take. For that reason, flexibility is particularly important if remediation works take longer than originally expected.

If you are preparing for defective block remediation in Clare, Limerick or the surrounding area, it is worth arranging your storage early. Barons offers special long-term rates, a price promise and convenient mobile phone-controlled access for up to 24 hours a day. You can also use our AI booking assistant to estimate your storage requirements from photographs of your belongings and manage your unit through our online customer portal.

For practical advice from a team with personal experience of the scheme, contact Barons Self Storage Limerick at Eastway Business Park, Ballysimon Road, or visit www.barons.ie.

Dessie Houlihan is General Manager of Barons Self Storage Limerick. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Management and has extensive professional experience in self-storage, together with first-hand experience of the Defective Concrete Block Scheme.