Building a house on your parents' or family land
How to build on a site from your parents or family: the tax on the gift, getting the site into your name, what a lender asks for and the planning conditions.
Planning permission
Rural housing policy, applications, objections and conditions.
How long does planning permission last in Ireland?
Planning permission normally lasts five years from the grant. Check your expiry date, what unfinished work means and when to apply for an extension.
Living on site while you build: mobile home, caravan or cabin
Can you live in a mobile home, caravan or cabin on your site while you build in Ireland? Planning, wastewater, insurance and the risk of building first.
Planning application fee for a new house in Ireland
Budget for the €65 house planning fee, notices, drawings and site assessments. Check retention charges, appeal fees and separate development contributions.
Planning conditions for your house
Read your planning conditions before booking a builder. Agree required details, check contributions and meet pre-start conditions before work begins.
Planning objections and appeals in Ireland
Who can object to a planning application, who can appeal the council's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála, and how the four-week appeal deadline is calculated.
Planning permission for a one-off house in Ireland: what to expect
How planning works for a one-off house in Ireland: what the council looks at, the pre-planning meeting, the 8-week decision period and what to prepare first.
Renovate, extend or knock down and rebuild an old house in Ireland
Inherited an old farmhouse or bungalow? Compare renovating, extending or rebuilding in Ireland: planning, VAT, grants, finance and insurance.
Rural housing and local need: do you qualify?
How rural housing policy and the local need test work for a one-off house in Ireland: the evidence councils ask for and occupancy conditions.
When do you need retention permission?
Check whether work built without permission needs retention, what it costs and when the council must refuse to consider an application.
Will your site pass a wastewater assessment?
Test whether your site can treat wastewater before you buy. Check soil depth, percolation results and distances to wells under Ireland's 2021 Code.