Chapter 9 of 10 · Self-build, extending and renovating · 6 of 8
Planning permission: when you need it, the exemptions, and how to apply
Checked 21 Oct 2026the Central Bank's mortgage measures, Revenue's rules and the scheme operators' published terms.
When you need planning permission, the exemptions for extensions, how to apply, fees, timelines, objections and retention permission.
Check before you hire: a architect should be on the register kept by the RIAI. RIAI: register of architects
Written in plain English for the person buying, selling or switching. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
Planning permission is the council's consent to build something or change how land is used. You need it for a new house and for most big changes to an existing one. You do not need it for a list of smaller works called exempted development. This guide explains when you need it, what is exempt, how to apply, what it costs, how long it takes, and what happens when someone objects.
When you need it
You need planning permission to:
- Build a new house.
- Extend a house beyond the exemption limits below.
- Change the use of a building, for example a shop to a home.
- Build to the front or side of a house in most cases.
- Alter a protected structure in a way that affects its character.
- Divide a house into flats.
- Put up a large garden building, or any building for a business.
You also need it before the lender lends on a self-build, and before a solicitor can close the sale of a house with an extension. The self-build mortgage guide explains what lenders ask for.
What is exempt
The Planning and Development Regulations list works that do not need permission, with conditions. The ones most people meet:
| Work | Exempt if |
|---|---|
| Rear extension | Up to 40 square metres in total, counting any extension built since 1 October 1964; at least 25 square metres of private garden left; above-ground-floor parts limited to 12 square metres (terraced or semi-detached) or 20 square metres (detached) within the 40; height and window rules met |
| Attic conversion | No change to the roof shape or new windows on the front; roof lights to the rear within limits |
| Porch | Up to 2 square metres, at least 2 metres from the road, within height limits |
| Garden shed, garage or greenhouse | Up to 25 square metres in total, to the rear or side, not for living in, with 25 square metres of garden left |
| Front boundary wall or fence | Up to 1.2 metres high at the front, 2 metres at the side or rear |
| Solar panels on a house roof | Exempt within limits since 2022, with some restrictions near airports and in protected areas |
The limits are cumulative and the conditions matter. A 30 square metre extension on a house that already has a 15 square metre one needs permission. A protected structure or a house in an architectural conservation area has fewer exemptions. The extension costs guide works through the 40 square metre rule with examples.
If you are not sure, you can ask the council for a declaration under section 5 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 on whether a work is exempt. It costs a small fee and gives you a written answer you can show a buyer later.
Before you apply
Most councils offer a pre-planning meeting. You bring sketches and the planner tells you what is likely to be acceptable. It is free and it saves a refused application. For a rural site, this is where you learn whether you meet the local-need rules in the county development plan: usually that you were born in the area, grew up there, or work there. The buying land guide explains local need.
Your designer, an architect (the RIAI register; see the architect page) or an engineer (Engineers Ireland; see the structural survey page), prepares the application. Few people lodge one themselves.
How to apply
- Put up a site notice on the land, visible from the road, in the council's set form.
- Place a notice in a newspaper the council accepts, within two weeks before you lodge.
- Lodge the application: the form, the fee, six copies of the drawings, the site layout, the location map, the notices, and for a rural house the site suitability assessment for the wastewater system.
- The council checks the application is valid within a few days. An invalid one is returned.
- Anyone can view the file and make a submission within five weeks, for €20.
- The council decides within eight weeks of a valid application.
- If the council asks for further information, you have six months to reply; the council then has four weeks to decide. Significant new information means new notices.
- The council issues a notification of decision to grant or refuse. Four weeks later, if nobody appeals, the final grant issues.
Permission usually lasts five years. You must start the work within that time.
What it costs
| Item | Typical cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Council application fee, new house | €65 at the last check | Set by regulation; check your council's list |
| Council application fee, extension | €34 at the last check | Set by regulation; check your council's list |
| Retention application | Higher than a new application | Set by regulation |
| Newspaper notice | Typically €100 to €300 | Depends on the paper |
| Site notice | Nominal | Printed and laminated |
| Drawings and the application | Part of your designer's fee | From a few thousand euro for planning drawings alone |
| Site suitability assessment (rural) | Typically a few hundred euro | By a registered site assessor |
| Development contribution | Thousands of euro on a new house; varies by council | Payable before you start, under the council's scheme |
| Submission on someone else's application | €20 | Set by regulation |
| Appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála | Set by the Commission; check its site | Higher for the applicant than for an objector |
The council's fees are set by the Planning and Development Regulations and have not changed for many years; confirm them on your council's website before you lodge. Development contributions are the big one. Each council has a scheme that charges per square metre of new floor area, and the figure can run from a few thousand euro to well over €10,000 for a large house. Ask at the pre-planning meeting.
Objections and appeals
Anyone can make a submission to the council for €20 within five weeks of your application. The council must consider it. A submission is not a veto; the planner weighs it against the development plan and the drawings.
After the decision, you or anyone who made a submission can appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála (until 2025 called An Bord Pleanála) within four weeks. The Commission looks at the whole application afresh and can grant, refuse or change the conditions. An appeal typically adds several months. The Commission's decision is final, except on a point of law in the courts.
Conditions
A grant comes with conditions. Common ones:
- Pay the development contribution before starting.
- Build the wastewater system as assessed.
- Use set materials or colours.
- Plant a hedge, or keep one.
- Occupy the house yourself for a set number of years (rural local-need permissions).
- Lodge a bond for roads or services in an estate.
Your lender and your certifier read the conditions. So does the solicitor of whoever buys the house one day. Keep the grant with the deeds.
Retention permission
If something has been built without permission, you can apply for retention. The council judges it as a new application and can refuse. If refused, the council can require you to take it down. Unauthorised work more than seven years old is generally safe from enforcement, but it is not the same as permission: a buyer's solicitor and a lender can still refuse to proceed, or require retention first. If you are buying a house with an extension, ask for the planning reference or the exemption declaration; the viewing checklist says where to look.
Building regulations are separate
Planning permission says you may build it. The building regulations say how it must be built: structure, fire, insulation, ventilation, access. Both apply. A house also needs a commencement notice and, at the end, a certificate of compliance from your certifier. The how to self-build guide covers the building control steps.
Where this leaves you
Once you know what you can build, put the size and cost into the self-build mortgage calculator to see what the loan looks like. The self-build journey puts planning in order with the other steps, and you can get quotes for the architect or engineer who prepares the application.
Questions people ask
Do I need planning permission for an extension in Ireland?
Not for a rear extension of up to 40 square metres, counting any earlier extensions since 1964, if at least 25 square metres of garden is left and the height and window rules are met. Anything larger, or to the front or side, needs permission.
How long does planning permission take in Ireland?
The council must decide within eight weeks of a valid application. If it asks for further information, you have six months to reply and the council then has four weeks. An appeal adds months. Allow three to nine months in all.
How much does planning permission cost?
The council's fee for a new house has been €65 for many years and for a domestic extension €34; check your council's current list. The real costs are the drawings, the site notice, the newspaper notice and any development contribution, which can run to thousands of euro on a new house.
What is retention permission?
Permission applied for after something has been built without it. The council judges it as if it were a new application, and can refuse. The fee is higher. An unauthorised extension with no retention can hold up a sale or a mortgage.
Can neighbours object to planning permission?
Anyone can make a submission to the council within five weeks of the application, for a fee of €20. The council must consider it. Anyone who made a submission can appeal the council's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála within four weeks.