Sources of Planning Exemption

Where the exemptions come from

There are two main sources of exemption from the requirement for planning permission in Irish law:

• Section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000
• The Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (S.I. 600/2001)

Section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000

The section is in two parts. The first sets out the main categories of exempted development, which include:

• Agricultural development
• Development by a county council in its own functional area
• Development affecting only the interior of a structure, or which does not materially affect its external appearance: this is the exemption that allows an attic conversion without planning permission, provided there are no dormer or velux windows to the front or side of the house
• Development by an urban district council

The second part provides that the Minister may make regulations classifying development as exempt, which is how the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 came about.

The Regulations: S.I. 600/2001

Schedule 2 of the Regulations sets the exemptions out in two columns. Column 1 describes the type of development that is exempt; column 2 sets out the conditions and limitations attaching to it. Exempt developments, subject to those conditions, include:

• An extension to the rear of a house
• Conversion of a garage, store or shed
• A chimney, boiler house or oil storage tank
• A shed, garage, store or greenhouse
• Television aerials
• A fence, gate or wall
• Landscaping works, including a path, drain or pond
• A porch
• Keeping or storing a caravan, campervan or boat within the curtilage of the house
• Sundry works including plastering, capping walls, and constructing a fence, wall, gate or gateway
• Painting

The Regulations also deal with change of use, temporary structures, development for industrial purposes, development by statutory bodies, advertisements, rural and agricultural structures, and classes of use.

Why it matters on a sale or purchase

The value of any property can be enhanced or diminished by its development. When you are buying or selling, you need to be mindful of the requirement that the property, and any development on it, was carried out in accordance with the planning laws. The appropriate certificates of compliance with planning permission and building regulations are essential documents of title.