External insulation grant: questions answered
The grant, your walls, the money and the rules.
Free, no obligation. One registered contractor prices it, not five.
- €8,000detached
- €6,000semi-D or end of terrace
- €3,500mid-terrace
- €3,000apartment
Every guide on this site
By house type, then the money.
Your grant against your walls
Four quick taps. You see your grant, your wall, what a job that size typically costs and what's left. Your number is only asked for at the end, if you want a price.
An average semi-detached house: about 91 m² of outside wall, a typical job of about €23,200, the €6,000 grant, so about €17,200 left to pay.
How this is worked out
The grant is SEAI's fixed amount for your house type. The wall area is the median outside wall on the BER register for homes of your type built before 2011, or the smaller or larger quarter if you picked those. The typical job is what grant-funded external insulation typically costs for your house type, scaled to that wall. Your contractor prices your house after a look: it's a guide to plan with, never a quote. SEAI decides every grant.
Every question
How much is the external insulation grant?
SEAI pays a fixed external wall insulation grant: €8,000 for a detached house, €6,000 for a semi-detached or end-of-terrace house, €3,500 for a mid-terrace and €3,000 for an apartment. The home must have been built and first lived in before 2011, and every outside wall must be done.
What's left to pay after the grant?
About €17,200 on a typical semi-D, €10,500 on a mid-terrace and €18,500 on a detached house, more on bigger houses.
Is the grant bigger for a bigger house?
No. It's fixed by house type.
Can I get it after a cavity or dry lining grant?
Yes. Since 2 March 2026 external insulation can be a second wall measure after a cavity or internal wall grant.
Can I get a second external grant?
No. After an external wall grant there's no second wall measure.
Does every wall have to be done?
Yes. SEAI needs every outside wall of the home insulated.
What about a bungalow?
A detached bungalow gets the detached grant, €8,000; a semi-detached one €6,000.
Do I need planning permission?
Check the rules for your house: external insulation and planning.
Who gets my request?
One SEAI-registered external insulation contractor who covers your county. externalinsulationgrant.ie is not SEAI or a government body and does not award grants.
How thick is an SEAI-compliant external wall insulation wrap?
Most Irish homes require between 100 mm and 150 mm of graphite-enhanced EPS insulation—plus roughly 8 mm to 10 mm of reinforced basecoat and silicone topcoat—to bring an uninsulated solid or hollow-block wall down to the required 0.18 W/m²K U-value.
Do I need planning permission to wrap the outside of my house?
External wall insulation on the side and rear elevations is generally exempt from planning permission in Ireland. If the wrap alters the front elevation finish on a terraced street, sits inside an Architectural Conservation Area, or involves a Protected Structure, check with your local authority planning office first.
What happens to pipes, meter boxes, flues, and satellite dishes on the wall?
Your SEAI-registered contractor extends rainwater downpipes, soil vents, outside taps, and alarm sounders outward to sit flush on the new face. Boiler flues and gas or ESB meter boxes must be extended or recessed by a registered RGI gas installer or Safe Electric electrician.
Can external insulation be fitted over pebble dash or roughcast render?
Yes, provided the existing dash or render is structurally sound and well bonded to the blockwork beneath. Loose or hollow sections are hacked off and dubbed out with mortar before the new insulation boards are mechanically and adhesively fixed.
How long does it take to wrap a typical 3-bed semi-detached house?
On a standard 3-bed semi-detached house (around 90 to 100 m² of wall area), scaffolding, surface prep, boarding, pipes adjustment, basecoat curing, and final silicone topcoat typically take 2 to 3 weeks depending on dry weather windows for rendering.
Can I combine the external wall insulation grant with the attic insulation grant?
Yes. A semi-detached homeowner can stack the €6,000 external wall wrap grant with the €1,500 attic insulation grant (and €50 post-works BER grant) in a single SEAI application, bringing total grant support to €7,550.
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Your grant against your walls
Four taps to your grant, your wall and what's left. Then, if you want, one SEAI-registered external insulation contractor who covers your county rings with a price.