Laois · checked 29 October 2026

Cavity wall insulation in Laois

The grant is national. The walls in Laois aren't. What SEAI's BER register and Census 2022 say about homes in Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick, and what it means for filling the cavity.

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Figures checked against seai.ie on 29 October 2026.

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42%of Laois pre-2011 BERs: an empty or part-insulated cavity

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€1,800 detached, €850 mid-terrace, €700 apartment
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On Laois's BER certificates for homes built before 2011, 4.6% record an empty cavity wall, the job this grant pays for, and 37% a cavity that's only part insulated, against 4.5% and 28% across Ireland. 13% are timber frame, which can't be cavity insulated, against 6% nationally.

The grant itself is the same in every county: €700 to €1,800 by home type, or €900 to €2,300 at the higher rate (seai.ie, checked 29 October 2026). We pass your request to one SEAI-registered contractor who covers Laois.

What stands out about Laois homes

SEAI pays the same grant in every county. The walls aren't the same. Against the national figures, these are the things that stand out in Laois, from Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick to the rest of the county:

4.6% of Laois's pre-2011 BERs record an empty cavity wall, against 4.5% nationally, the 13th highest of the 26 counties. That's a cavity wall with no insulation in it, U-value 1.0 or worse: the job this grant was made for.
13% of Laois's pre-2011 BERs are timber frame, against 6% nationally, the 3rd highest of the 26 counties. Timber frame homes can't be cavity insulated under SEAI's standards: the cavity keeps the frame dry (SEAI technical standards).
37% of Laois's pre-2011 BERs record a cavity that's only part insulated, against 28% nationally, the 5th highest of the 26 counties. That's usually boards fitted when the house was built. SEAI's standards allow the gap behind rigid boards to be filled if at least 40 mm is clear everywhere, but not a top-up over mineral wool (SEAI technical standards).
19% of Laois homes heat mainly with coal, peat or wood, against 9% nationally (Census 2022). A stove or open fire needs its air supply and flue kept clear when the walls are pumped, and SEAI's standards make the installer test the flue before and after (SEAI technical standards).

Laois and Ireland compared

	Laois	Ireland	Rank of 26
Households, Census 2022	31,112	1,836,728
Built before 2011, inside the grant	90%	90%
Built 2011 or later	8%	8%	5th
Detached houses	55%	41%	16th
BERs for homes built before 2011	11,122	751,700
Empty cavity wall	4.6%	4.5%	13th
Cavity, part insulated	37%	28%	5th
Hollow block	6.4%	4.2%	5th
Rated E, F or G	24%	25%	19th
BERs for grant claims per 1,000 pre-2011 homes, 2026	40.2	42.1	22nd
Heating degree days a year	2,080	2,079	9th

Households and year built: CSO Census 2022 (table F2007A), councils in the county added together. BER figures: SEAI BER Research Tool, the full public file downloaded 29 October 2026: 751,700 certificates for existing homes built before 2011, leaving out the BERs done for grant claims. Degree days near Portlaoise: our sum from Met Éireann's 1991–2020 grid. Ranks are ours, 1st being the highest.

Next door, the share of pre-2011 BERs with an empty cavity wall: Offaly 5.3%, Kildare 3.3%, Carlow 4.4%, Kilkenny 3.7%, Tipperary 4.4%. All 26 counties side by side.

The walls on Laois BERs

The grant only pays where a cavity can be filled. SEAI's register holds 11,122 BER certificates for Laois homes built before 2011, leaving out the ones done for grant claims. Their main wall:

Main wall	Laois	Ireland	For the grant
Empty cavity	4.6%	4.5%	The job this grant pays for
Cavity, part insulated	37%	28%	A survey decides: the 40 mm rule
Filled cavity	13%	16%	Done. Second measure is internal or external
Hollow block	6.4%	4.2%	Can't be pumped
Solid stone, brick or concrete	11%	14%	No cavity: internal or external
Timber frame	13%	6%	Can't be cavity insulated
Other or not recorded	15%	27%

Empty cavity: a 300 or 425 mm cavity wall with a U-value of 1.0 or more. Source: SEAI's BER register, as above. Our count.

11% of the Laois cavity walls on those certificates have no insulation at all, against 14% nationally. Hollow block, solid and timber frame walls, 30% of Laois's certificates against 24% nationally, can't take a cavity fill: SEAI's standards say cavity hollow block walls are not suitable and timber frame homes cannot be cavity insulated (SEAI technical standards). For those the grant routes are internal or external insulation, and our sister site covers external wall insulation in Laois.

The size of the job is the wall. Of Laois houses built before 2011, the commonest type is the detached house (Census 2022). On BERs the median detached house has 125 m² of outside wall, against 128 m² nationally, about the same. SEAI publishes its median costs nationally, not by county.

Home type	Outside wall, Laois	Ireland
Detached house	125 m²	128 m²
Semi-D	91 m²	91 m²
End of terrace	89 m²	85 m²
Mid-terrace	56 m²	48 m²
Apartment	54 m²	43 m²

Median wall area recorded on BER certificates for Laois homes built before 2011: SEAI's BER register, as above. Our medians.

The only way to know your own wall is a survey: a small drilled hole and a borescope on each elevation, which SEAI's standards require before any fill (SEAI technical standards). Is my house suitable? has the checks you can do yourself first.

Heating, weather and grant claims in Laois

The grant doesn't depend on the fuel, but the fuel decides what an empty cavity costs you each winter, and what the installer has to check. 43% of Laois households heat mainly with oil (CSO Census 2022). An oil boiler needs its combustion air supply and flue kept clear, and the flue tested after pumping, as SEAI's standards require (SEAI technical standards).

Main central heating	Laois	Ireland
Oil	43%	39%
Natural gas	25%	33%
Electricity	7%	12%
Coal, peat or wood	19%	9%

Share of all households, including those that didn't state a fuel: CSO Census 2022, table SAP2022T6T5CTY.

Portlaoise has about 2,080 heating degree days a year on Met Éireann's 1991–2020 averages, against 2,079 for Ireland (our sum, base 15.5°C). The heat a wall loses rises in step with that number. 24% of Laois's pre-2011 BERs are rated E, F or G, against 25% nationally (SEAI's BER register).

Every SEAI home grant needs a BER after the work, so the BERs done for grant claims track finished grant jobs of every kind, walls included. In Laois there were 816 in 2024, 971 in 2025 and 1,122 in 2026 up to 29 October: 40.2 per 1,000 homes built before 2011, against 42.1 nationally (SEAI's BER register).

The cavity wall grant by home type

The grant is the same in Laois as in every other county: a fixed amount by home type, whatever the contractor charges. Homeowners on a qualifying welfare payment, and homes in an active HAP tenancy or RAS arrangement, get the higher rate.

Home type	Standard grant	Higher rate: welfare, HAP, RAS
Detached house	€1,800	€2,300
Semi-D or end of terrace	€1,300	€1,700
Mid-terrace	€850	€1,100
Apartment	€700	€900

Source: seai.ie wall insulation page, checked 29 October 2026.

What's left after the grant, on SEAI's national median costs for January to June 2026. SEAI publishes no Laois median, and we don't invent one:

Home type	Median installed cost	SEAI grant	Typical cost after grant
Detached house	€2,350	€1,800	€550
Semi-D or end of terrace	€1,585	€1,300	€285
Mid-terrace	€1,250	€850	€400
Apartment	€1,036	€700	€336

Costs: SEAI median costs, January to June 2026, from SEAI's median costs PDF (a sample of 23,412 completed upgrades; the cost each contractor submitted to SEAI at grant payment; VAT status not stated on the PDF), read 29 October 2026. Grants: seai.ie wall insulation page, checked 29 October 2026. One Irish cost guide gives €7.50 to €13 per m² including VAT (ShamFix, 31 July 2026).

A home built and occupied before 31 December 2010, with an MPRN
All external walls fully insulated: partial insulation isn't eligible
An SEAI-registered contractor, and SEAI's grant offer before work starts
An installer approved by NSAI for the system used

Two national registers, both searchable: SEAI's register of contractors, which the grant requires, and NSAI's register of cavity wall insulation installers, which SEAI's standards require for the system used. The rules in full: cavity wall insulation grant, cost, the job step by step and which wall grant fits.

FAQ

Laois questions

Is the cavity wall grant different in Laois?

No. SEAI pays the same fixed amounts in every county: €1,300 for a semi-D and €1,800 for a detached house, with higher rates for qualifying welfare recipients and HAP or RAS homes. What differs is the walls: 4.6% of Laois's pre-2011 BERs record an empty cavity, against 4.5% nationally.

How many Laois homes have an empty cavity wall?

4.6% of BER certificates for Laois homes built before 2011 record an empty cavity with no insulation, the 13th highest share of the 26 counties. Another 37% record a cavity that's part insulated, which a borescope survey checks against the 40 mm rule.

Can every Laois house with block walls be pumped?

No. 6.4% of Laois's pre-2011 BERs record hollow block and 13% timber frame, and SEAI's standards rule out a cavity fill in both. A survey with a small drilled hole and a borescope tells you which wall you have.

How many Laois homes are too new for the grant?

Census 2022 counted 2,623 Laois households in homes built in 2011 or later, 8% of the total. SEAI's wall grants are only for homes built and occupied before 31 December 2010.

Who will ring me in Laois?

One SEAI-registered contractor who covers Laois. They survey the walls, check the cavity with a borescope and give you a written price with VAT. Nothing is booked until you say yes, and SEAI approves the grant before any work starts.

Where these numbers come from (9 public sources, checked 29 October 2026)

Sources (1)

Prices and facts on this page were checked against these published pages. We are not connected to these businesses.

ShamFix: shamfix.ie