Building a house in County Donegal: rural housing policy, charges and siting rules

Who decides, and how to apply

Donegal County Council decides applications for the whole county. You can search applications on ePlanning. The rural housing rules are in the County Donegal Development Plan 2024-2030, which took effect in June 2024. The council made Variation No. 1 to the plan on 27 July 2026. It deals mainly with settlement area plans, and the Office of the Planning Regulator is still assessing it, so confirm the current text with the council before you buy a site.

Every rural housing application also needs the council’s Rural Housing Application Form (Form B, Appendix A) on top of the standard form. Read how a one-off house application works first.

The three rural housing policy areas

The council’s form asks you to say which of three policy areas your site is in.

Areas under strong urban influence (policy RH-P-1). The council considers a new one-off house from an applicant who can show a demonstrable economic or social need to live in the area. Its example of evidence is that you, or your parents or grandparents, lived in the area near the site at some time for at least seven years. The policy words it as an example (“including, for example”), so it is not the only way to qualify. The policy is subject to the plan’s other policies, including RH-P-9 on landscape and design.

Areas under strong holiday home influence (RH-P-2). The test and the seven-year example are the same, applied to the area under strong holiday home influence near the site.

Structurally weak rural areas (RH-P-3). The council considers a one-off house from any applicant for a dwelling, subject to siting and design and the plan’s other policies. The council’s form still asks for a short narrative of your housing need.

In all three areas the plan says new holiday homes will not be permitted. A holiday home is a different class of development, and the 2026 charge schedule treats it separately.

One permission per person, with exceptions

In the first two areas, the policy does not apply if you have already had the benefit of a permission for a dwelling on another site, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. The council’s example is an applicant who sold a previously permitted, built and occupied house to someone who met that permission’s bona fides requirements. If you have used a permission before, talk to the council before you buy a second site.

Evidence the council asks for

The council tells applicants to provide a complete range of documents, and says a statement without evidence is not enough. Its form lists these:

• a bona fide letter from an elected member of Donegal County Council;
• a letter from an employer;
• a birth or marriage certificate;
• a letter from local clergy;
• medical evidence;
• education records;
• a map showing the addresses you rely on;
• utility bills or a rent book for those addresses; and
• proof of farming, if you say you are a farmer.

The form also asks for the townland and Eircode of each address you rely on, and the years you, your parents or grandparents lived there. Missing evidence can delay your application if the council has to ask for further information. For more on what each kind of proof shows, see rural housing and local need.

The siting and design guide

Even if you meet the local need test, the plan’s policy RH-P-9 requires a rural house to fit into the landscape, and the council publishes a Rural Housing Location, Siting and Design Guide. Its siting rules include:

• run buildings along the contours of the site, and avoid excavating a platform that looks out of place;
• do not build on elevated or exposed sites that would be obtrusive, and do not break the skyline or waterline;
• on mountain land, avoid the crest or shoulder of a slope and avoid large excavations to make a level platform;
• in drumlin country, use the hills, trees and stone walls for shelter, and local stone in boundary walls; and
• on open bog, expect limited opportunity: the guide says the wet, porous ground is not readily suited to building and makes effluent disposal hard.

The guide suggests photographing the area from key viewpoints, looking particularly at long views towards the site, and including the photographs with your application.

The development charge

The County Donegal Development Contribution Scheme 2026-2030 was adopted on 11 March 2026. It charges a flat amount by size for a permanent dwelling:

Permanent dwelling	Charge
Under 150 square metres	€2,000
150 to 200 square metres inclusive	€3,000
Over 200 square metres	€4,000

The rate applied is the one on the date of the decision to grant, and charges are indexed from 1 March each year. For comparison, the previous 2016 scheme charged €2,025 for dwellings under 200 square metres and €3,374.51 above that.

The scheme exempts a replacement of a habitable house that has not been abandoned (the whole roof off for over a year) or that has defective concrete blocks, as long as there is no significant increase in demand on public infrastructure. Any extra floor area is charged at the domestic extension rate of €5 per square metre, with a €100 minimum. It also exempts a temporary mobile home permitted for living in while you build.

The national waiver covered only homes started on site between 25 April 2023 and 31 December 2024. A house starting now cannot qualify. See the waiver guide.

Wastewater and site suitability

The siting guide warns that peat and bog ground makes effluent disposal hard. Before you pay for design, get the site tested. Read site suitability assessments and wastewater treatment systems for the steps.