Building a house in County Kildare: the 15 hectare farm test, 16 years' residence and the €62 per square metre charge

Who decides, and how to apply

Kildare County Council decides applications for the county, and its planning applications page explains how to apply and search. The rural housing rules are in section 3.13 of the Kildare County Development Plan 2023-2029, which was adopted on 9 December 2022 and took effect on 28 January 2023. Councils can vary a plan, so check the current text before you buy a site.

Read how a one-off house application works first. Siting and design follow the Kildare Rural Housing Design Guide in Appendix 4 of the plan and the development management standards in chapter 15 (policy HO P12).

Two zones, one test

Kildare’s plan divides the countryside into two zones on Map 3.1, but the need criteria in Table 3.4 apply in both.

• Zone 1, areas under strong urban influence. The council facilitates single houses based on a demonstrable economic or social need to live in a rural area and build a home there, and on siting, environmental and design criteria. The council drew the zone from the national definition, refined with local demographic, one-off density and environmental data.
• Zone 2, stronger rural areas. The plan facilitates single houses on siting, environmental and design criteria, and recognises that some parts of the county have significant scenic value to protect.

The council says it will facilitate rural-generated housing demand with regard to your genuine local and housing need, and to protecting roads, water quality, sensitive landscapes, habitats and built heritage. It also says urban-generated rural housing, meaning houses driven by people who originate in or work in urban areas, will not be considered. Policy HO P11 requires you to submit documents showing you comply with the rural housing policy.

Economic need

Category A in Table 3.4 covers people actively engaged in farming on the landholding where the house is to be built. There are two routes.

• A farmer, or a son, daughter, niece or nephew who will take over the family farm. A farmer here is a landowner with more than 15 hectares, and that land must have been in the ownership of the applicant’s immediate family for at least seven years before the application. Leased land can count toward the 15 hectares if you submit a lease of 10 years or more from the date of application.
• An owner and operator of a farming, horticulture, forestry, bloodstock or animal husbandry business on under 15 hectares. You must farm on a daily basis as your main employment, and show with documents that it is a significant part of your livelihood, which can include intensive farming.

Social need

Category B covers people who have resided in a rural area for a substantial period of their lives, which the plan defines as 16 years. Table 3.4 says you must have grown up and spent 16 years living in the rural area of Kildare, and want to build on your family landholding. If no family land is available, the council may consider a site within 5 kilometres of your family home.

Documents are required. The plan lists copies of original birth certificates, bank statements, utility bills and official school records as examples. For general advice on evidence, see rural housing and local need.

Occupancy and other conditions

• You must not already own a rural house. Objective HO O43 requires you to show that you do not own, and have not been granted permission for, a one-off rural dwelling in Kildare.
• Ten-year occupancy. Objective HO O45 restricts occupancy as a permanent residence for ten years to the applicant who meets the local need criteria.
• No speculative sales. Objective HO O44 restricts residential development on a landholding with a history of speculative sale or development of sites to an unrelated third party.
• Health exception. HO O47 recognises that exceptional health circumstances, supported by documents from a registered medical specialist, may require a person to live in a particular environment. Those houses should generally be close to services or in rural settlements, and carry a ten-year occupancy condition.
• Clusters. The plan allows clusters of five houses or fewer on family farm holdings for family members, or next to urban boundaries, where no other land is available, the social or economic test is met and there has been no speculative sale of sites.

Ribbon development, gap sites and backland

Policy HO P13 restricts development that would add to or extend ribbon development, defined as five or more houses along 250 metres on one side of any road. Under HO P14 a single house on a gap site within an existing ribbon can be considered if you show economic or social need, use existing or shared accesses where practicable, and show with documents that no site outside the ribbon exists. A gap site is one within a line of existing and permitted houses, and the house must fully occupy the gap.

Policy HO P16 considers backland development for family members only, with screening in place before you occupy. HO O51 requires safe vehicle access without removing extensive stretches of native hedgerow. Where a hedge must be moved for sightlines, HO O52 requires planting a similar length of native hedge on the new boundary.

Replacing, restoring and finishing houses

Policy HO P18 encourages restoring a derelict traditional house instead of building a new one, and you do not have to meet the local need criteria if the building can be restored without significant demolition. You need a structural survey and photographs. Policy HO P20 allows a replacement where the house is no longer suitable for habitation, the structure was last used as a dwelling with identifiable external walls, and a qualified person’s report says replacement is the most sustainable option. HO O49 favours completing a house left unfinished for over three years, with a five-year occupancy clause for an applicant who has lived and worked within 10 kilometres for at least three years.

The development charge

The Kildare County Council Development Contribution Scheme 2023-2029 charges residential development €62 per square metre of floor area, with no separate rural rate. A 200 square metre house is therefore charged €12,400.

The first 40 square metres of an extension, including an attached garage or attic conversion, are exempt, and the rest is charged at €62. Garden sheds, offices and garages exempt the first 25 square metres and charge the balance at half the rate. Retention permissions get no exemptions. Only one discount or waiver can be applied to any contribution. A development funded by a Housing Adaptation Grant is exempt once you provide written confirmation. Replacement buildings on the same footprint are not charged where the original was extensively damaged by subsidence, flood or fire.

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.

To see how Kildare’s charge compares, the development contributions table compares the charge for a 200 square metre house across all 31 councils.

Wastewater and site suitability

Almost every rural house treats its own wastewater, and a site that fails the assessment cannot be built on whatever your local connection. Read site suitability assessments and wastewater treatment systems before you pay for the test.