# How difficult is it to get planning permission without local connection



## ali (10 Jan 2010)

How easy or hard is it to get planning permission from scratch (or modify an existing outline  permission) throughout the country if you have no local connections with the area where the site is?

Example. Person A wants to build a large property as a principal private residence somewhere in the country. They don't have family or employment connections with any area. They are for arguments sake, open to any county in Ireland. I understand planning guidelines vary widely. Are there counties where one off builds like this would be more likely to succeed e.g. underpopulated counties like Leitrim etc. 

Would a person be more likely to acheive their goal by buying a site with outline permission and reapply for their own build on that site? Are permissions granted to the site or the person? Are they transferrable?

A.


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## Superman (10 Jan 2010)

> How easy or hard is it to get planning permission from scratch (or modify an existing outline  permission) throughout the country if you have no local connections with the area where the site is?


Depends on the local zoning - talk to your local County Planner. 



> Are there counties where one off builds like this would be more likely to succeed e.g. underpopulated counties like Leitrim etc.


 Ones which aren't under pressure from local conurbations - Leitrim likely fits the bill.


> Would a person be more likely to acheive their goal by buying a site with outline permission and reapply for their own build on that site?


Depends on the site - getting outline can be a good idea.



> Are permissions granted to the site or the person?


To the site.



> Are they transferrable?


Yes, however if there is a condition that Permission can only be given to a local, then there is not much point in transferring it to a non-local.


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## ali (10 Jan 2010)

Thanks for the reply Superman



Superman said:


> Depends on the local zoning - talk to your local County Planner.
> 
> In order to avoid having to talk to every individual county planning dept. I'm trying to establish whether in some counties the scenario from my original post would be more likely to succeed and if so which ones.
> 
> A.


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## onq (11 Jan 2010)

Hi Ali,

Many local authorities have an agenda to prevent speculative development spoiling the natural beauty of their rural areas.

They use their development plans to regulate what may be built and who may apply.
Many of these are downloadable via the internet but some ot them may not be.
Its probably faster to ring and have a chat with a local planning officer.

If you have the Eircom package ringing anywhere in Ireland is "free".
This means it doesn't increase the flat monthly rate you pay.
I have no connection to Eircom - just thinking of the cost.

ON balance, rural areas are usually more sensitive.

Permissions go with the land.
Conditions attaching to them can restrict occupation of the house to the applicant.
He/she may have had to satisfy strict criteria for getting the permission in the first place.

HTH

ONQ

[broken link removed]


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## ali (11 Jan 2010)

onq said:


> Hi Ali,
> 
> Many local authorities have an agenda to prevent speculative development spoiling the natural beauty of their rural areas.
> 
> ...


 
Many thanks for your reply, ONQ. Much of that I knew. I wasn't aware that development plans were downloadable so that could help. My knowledge and experience of planning is mostly confined to the greater Dublin area and Wicklow. The rest of it is anecdotal advice for example : forget West Cork , or They are crying out for new settlers in Leitrim / some parts of Clare. Certainly generalisations but I'm not sure if this is broadly accurate.

The development I'm enquiring about would not be speculative. It would be the principle private residence of people who want to build their dream home on a large site and locate there on a permanent basis. They are open minded on location although of course would have their preferences. The enquiry is more about initially honing in on counties where their situation would have the best chance. Obviously individual sites vary and many carry conditions, but my understanding is that many counties will rule you out totally as a new applicant unless you have family ties / a local housing need / can prove that you are tied by employment to a certain area. Just trying to establish in which , if any, counties this would not be a blanket policy. 

I will start with downloading the development plans which are available.

A.


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## MOB (11 Jan 2010)

A search on www.daft.ie for building sites for sale with the phrase 'no clauses' in the property description (this is the common auctioneering parlance for sites without restrictive occupancy-related planning conditions) throws up 174 results nationwide.  The distribution of these sites may be helpful in your research.


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## Angelic123 (11 Jan 2010)

ali said:


> They are crying out for new settlers in Leitrim / some parts of Clare. Certainly generalisations but I'm not sure if this is broadly accurate.
> 
> The enquiry is more about initially honing in on counties where their situation would have the best chance. Obviously individual sites vary and many carry conditions, but my understanding is that many counties will rule you out totally as a new applicant unless you have family ties / a local housing need / can prove that you are tied by employment to a certain area. Just trying to establish in which , if any, counties this would not be a blanket policy.
> 
> ...


 

Best thing to do although tedious is ring each county council office or call in - most of them want you to call in. We tried for planning in clare - (i was born & raised there) unless they want to live on the sea edge or the bog you wont get it - its practically gone into shut down. They did say to us that areas of low poplulation are the easiest areas- but councils are also trying to stop "blow ins" building anywhere they like - so generally need to have local connections..and a housing need - i dont think a working need has any significance.  just my experience.


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## ali (11 Jan 2010)

MOB said:


> A search on www.daft.ie for building sites for sale with the phrase 'no clauses' in the property description (this is the common auctioneering parlance for sites without restrictive occupancy-related planning conditions) throws up 174 results nationwide. The distribution of these sites may be helpful in your research.


 
Brilliant thanks

A


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## ali (11 Jan 2010)

Angelic123 said:


> Best thing to do although tedious is ring each county council office or call in - most of them want you to call in. We tried for planning in clare - (i was born & raised there) unless they want to live on the sea edge or the bog you wont get it - its practically gone into shut down. They did say to us that areas of low poplulation are the easiest areas- but councils are also trying to stop "blow ins" building anywhere they like - so generally need to have local connections..and a housing need - i dont think a working need has any significance. just my experience.


 
Thanks for letting me know your experience.

A.


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