Planning Permission for a New Home in Ireland: Step by Step

A new home in Ireland needs planning permission unless it qualifies for an exemption such as the Class 3A garden home. You publish a newspaper notice and erect a site notice, apply to your council within two weeks with a €65 fee for a house, and the council normally decides within eight weeks. After a four-week appeal period, permission is granted and lasts five years.

Planning permission is the first formal step for a new home, and it sets the timetable for everything else. The process is the same for a modular home as for one built on site: the council looks at the house, its position on the site and its effect on neighbours and the area. This guide walks through the steps, the documents and the time each stage takes.

€65

planning application fee for a house

8 weeks

normal decision period for a valid application

5 years

how long full planning permission lasts

Do you need planning permission for a new home?

Yes, unless the home qualifies for an exemption. Since 27 July 2026, a detached home in the rear garden of an existing house can be exempt under Class 3A if every condition is met; our guide to the garden home exemption explains them. Any other new home, including a modular home on its own site, needs permission. In rural areas, check the county development plan first: many counties have rural housing policies that set who may build a one-off house.

How do you apply for planning permission?

Before applying

Ask the council's planning section for a pre-planning consultation to discuss the development plan, the documents you need and the fee.

Public notice

Publish a notice in an approved newspaper and erect a site notice where it can be clearly read from the public road.

Within 2 weeks

Lodge the application with the form, fee, site location map, plans and drawings, and copies of both notices.

5 weeks

The site notice stays up for five weeks after the council receives the application. Anyone can make a submission for €20 in that period.

8 weeks

The council normally decides within eight weeks, unless it asks for further information.

Sources: Local Government Ireland, planning permission and Fingal County Council. The fee for a house is €65; retaining a house built without permission costs €195 or €2.50 per square metre, whichever is greater (Fingal fee schedule). If the site has no public sewer, add the site characterisation form for the wastewater system; see our guide to septic tanks.

Key Takeaway

Plan for about three months from lodging to a final grant without complications: eight weeks for the decision and four weeks for appeals. The nine days from 24 December to 1 January inclusive are excluded from the notice, submission, decision and appeal periods. A further information request or an appeal adds time, so start planning before you order the house.

What happens after the council decides?

If the council asks for further information, you have six months to respond. When it decides to grant permission, you receive a notice of intention to grant. Anyone who made a submission can appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála within four weeks; if nobody appeals, the permission is granted. You can also appeal a refusal or conditions you disagree with within four weeks. Full permission lasts five years and outline permission three.

After permission is granted

Read the conditions, including the development contribution, and comply with them.
Lodge the commencement notice 14 to 28 days before work starts.
Keep to the approved drawings; ask the council before making changes, because material changes may need a new permission.
Start and finish within the permission's life, normally five years.

The levy is explained in our guide to development contributions, and the commencement notice in building control for a new home.

What does planning mean for a BioBuilds home?

For applications outside the garden-home exemption, BioBuilds supplies plans, structural calculations, the certificate for its Passivhaus-certified building system and its external-wall Environmental Product Declaration. Your architect or engineer adapts the project to your site and the county development plan and lodges the application. BioBuilds' Irish prices include 23% Irish VAT, transport and installation on prepared ground screws through BioBuilds' local partners; Serenity starts at €191,000 in Exterior Finished, including 23% Irish VAT.

Choosing land? Read our guide to buying a site first, and see modular homes in Ireland for the full project. Price your home in the configurator.

Frequently Asked Questions

The council normally decides within eight weeks of receiving a valid application. If it grants permission, there is a four-week appeal period before the final grant. A request for further information, which you have six months to answer, or an appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála adds time.

The statutory application fee for a house is €65. You also pay for the newspaper notice, drawings and any reports the council requires, such as a site characterisation for a septic tank. If permission is granted, the conditions usually include a development contribution set by the council's scheme.

Yes, in most cases. A permanent modular home is a new dwelling and follows the same planning rules as any house. The exception is a qualifying detached home in the rear garden of an existing house under the Class 3A exemption, which has strict conditions and a prior notification instead.

Full planning permission normally lasts five years, and you must complete the development within that period. Outline permission normally lasts three years and approves the proposal in principle. You must apply for full permission within that period and obtain it before starting work. Conditions attached to the permission continue to apply after you move in.

Anyone can make a written submission or observation, for or against, within five weeks of the council receiving the application, for a fee of €20. People who made a submission can appeal the council's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála within four weeks.

Andreea B.

Client Experience Lead

Certified Passive House Consultant with 8 years experience in timber-frame construction and prefabricated housing. Helping families across Europe build smarter, healthier homes.