Building a house in County Louth: two rural policy zones, the 18-year rule and the €11,646 flat charge

Who decides, and how to apply

Louth County Council decides applications for the county. The plan in force is the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027, which came into effect on 11 November 2021; the council publishes a consolidated Volume 1 that includes Variations 1, 2 and 3. Rural housing is in section 3.17 of chapter 3, Housing, with the standards for one-off houses in section 13.9 of chapter 13.

Read how a one-off house application works first. The council’s planning pages explain how to apply and let you look up applications already made near your site.

Two Rural Policy Zones

The plan treats the whole open countryside as under strong urban influence and splits it by map into two zones. Zone 1 is the area under strong urban influence and of significant landscape value. Zone 2 is the area under strong urban influence. You need to demonstrate compliance with the local needs criteria for the zone your site is in (objective HOU 43). Where there is an alternative site on family land in Zone 2, the council presumes against a one-off house in Zone 1 (HOU 47).

Zone 1 criteria

You qualify under any one of these:

1. Full-time agriculture, with a holding and activity big enough to support full-time or significant part-time work, documented with holding size, livestock numbers and scheme participation.
2. A son or daughter of a landowner building a first home for permanent occupation. A qualifying landowner owns at least 1.5 hectares and has owned it for at least 15 years. You need a demonstrable social or economic need, must not have previously owned a dwelling, and no more than three houses besides the family home may be permitted on the holding.
3. An established business that depends on a Zone 1 location and needs you to live there.
4. Exceptional health reasons, with a consultant’s report and a demonstration that the family member’s existing home cannot be adapted.
5. A carer, with social ties, for an elderly or disabled person in an isolated rural area, with one house adjacent to theirs.
6. A person resident for at least 10 years who lost a previous home to separation, divorce or repossession and has a social or economic need.

Zone 2 criteria

Zone 2 has eight routes: the same full-time farming, business-need, exceptional health, carer and separation categories, plus three based on residence. Landowners and their children with demonstrable ties can qualify, normally meaning at least 18 years resident in the rural area of Louth before applying, and they must not own or have sold a residential property in the county in the previous 10 years. A first-time builder with a demonstrable economic or social requirement can qualify on the same 18 years, but must not own or have sold any residential property in the county. Emigrants who lived in the area for 18 years in total can return under the same 10-year condition. See rural housing and local need for the evidence councils look for.

Conditions that follow the permission

Every permission for a new rural dwelling carries a 7-year occupancy condition, in the form of a Section 47 agreement restricting the house to you or people who meet the criteria (HOU 46). The council restricts development on a landholding with a history of speculative site sales, even if you meet the need criteria (HOU 48). Houses must integrate into the landscape and not erode rural character (HOU 44) and meet the standards in section 13.9 (HOU 49).

Siting rules

Section 13.9 sets out how the council treats ribbon development, which the plan defines as five or more houses on one side of 250 metres of road frontage. A proposal that creates or extends ribbon development will not be considered favourably. Backland development, behind existing houses, is considered only in the two zones where the site has been in the family for at least 15 years and the landholding is at least 1.5 hectares, one dwelling per landowner, with a deed of right of way. A visual impact assessment can be requested in sensitive areas.

The development charge

Louth’s Development Contribution Scheme 2023, adopted on 18 September 2023, charges €11,646 per dwelling unit for residential development, whatever the size and with no separate rural rate in the notice. The rates are adjusted every 1 January using the CSO Wholesale Price Index for capital goods, building and construction, so what you pay is higher than the notice figure. The scheme also provides exemptions and reductions in some categories, so read the full scheme before assuming either applies to you. The national waiver covered only homes started on site between 25 April 2023 and 31 December 2024, so a house starting now cannot qualify. See the waiver guide.

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

Wastewater and site suitability

Most rural sites treat their own wastewater, and a site that fails the test will fail the application whatever your local need. Read site suitability assessments and wastewater treatment systems before you pay for the test.