What should you do before renovating if you want a grant?

Check the grant's rules before the first day of works

Andrew Cachia of grants.mt puts the order of operations plainly: "before beginning any works, it's important to check the guidelines and the eligibility criteria of the grants that you will be applying for, to make sure that if any works need to be approved before beginning, that is done."

The reason is what's at stake if you don't: "once you begin the works, you may actually lose your eligibility for the grant." Each scheme sets its own conditions, so the guidelines of the grant you're applying for are the document to read first — before the contractor's schedule.

When the contractor is ready and the grant isn't

The pressure usually arrives as a scheduling question: a contractor who can start next week, and an approval that hasn't come through. Andrew's answer is a straight no. "If the grant has not been approved, ensure to wait until it has been approved before starting any works. Or else you could render yourself ineligible for that particular grant and miss out on the benefit."

Planning permission is a separate question

A grant approval and planning permission are different things, and one doesn't stand in for the other. Whether your works need planning permission at all is its own check — Perit Matthew James Mercieca from MJM|DA sets out where that line falls. If you haven't bought yet, the planning starts even earlier: with the questions to ask before buying a property to renovate.

Sources

• Andrew Cachia — Yitaku Asks videos (check a grant's guidelines and eligibility criteria before works begin; works that need approval must be approved first; starting early can cost eligibility; wait for approval even when a contractor is ready)
• Individual grant scheme guidelines — conditions vary by scheme