Local needs condition

David09

I understand that there are strict conditions to obtaining planning permission for housing in rural areas, especially satisfying the local council's criteria of local needs.
If one were to purchase a site with a ruin already there, even if it was only a pile of stones but was historically a dwelling, can the council still impose the local needs criteria and refuse to allow permission to demolish/extend rebuild?

Yes, mainly because the previous building has ceased to be a dwelling and (I believe) a dwelling that had been unoccupied and allowed to become derelict for more than 10 years loses the status of being a habitable dwelling and would be treated the same as a site that was never occupied.

Poor Uncle Tom

My experience is that it is not a simple case of yes or no. If the area was previously used as a dwelling house and you can see that on the older maps, etc., then it becomes a brown field site as opposed to a green field site. It is easier to get planning permission in a brown field site, and the local County Development Plan for the area should go into this in more detail.

LoTwan

In Westmeath a dwelling has to have intact roof & windows to qualify for dwelling house for dwelling house. A pile of stones in the corner makes it marginally easier to get planning but it is still uphill.

Poor Uncle Tom

LoTwan wrote: »

In Westmeath a dwelling has to have intact roof & windows to qualify for dwelling house for dwelling house. A pile of stones in the corner makes it marginally easier to get planning but it is still uphill.

There's the key.....:D

(Nope, never, over my dead body, from my cold lifeless hands, not a hope, a snowball's chance, 1:ten million,) are not actually saying no....:p, a chink of light is still light....:)

sydthebeat

In my experience, if the dwelling is not "habitable", then it ceases to be considered a dwelling by the planning authority and thus no different to a green field application. A 'pile of rocks in a corner' makes no difference.

Most older rural buildings ie in excess of 50 years were built without any plannig standards, so issues like traffic sight lines, effluent treatment, privacy etc all become a factor in any new application.

slavetothegrind

has local needs ever been sucessfully challenged in court?
it has to be an infringement on the rights of the individual?
you are only entitled to build a home within a given radius of where you were born and reared?

i won't rant on, though tempted, but i am wondering if a person from dublin ever sucessfully challenged a planning refusal in another county on the grounds of local needs?

sydthebeat

slavetothegrind wrote: »

has local needs ever been sucessfully challenged in court?
it has to be an infringement on the rights of the individual?
you are only entitled to build a home within a given radius of where you were born and reared?

i won't rant on, though tempted, but i am wondering if a person from dublin ever sucessfully challenged a planning refusal in another county on the grounds of local needs?

this is off topic and should not be responded to !!!!

slavetothegrind

I apologize if it drags us off topic.
Please delete as deemed appropriate.
A lapse of judgement on my part, I am just incensed by the injustice of our planning laws.

Sorry for trouble caused.

David09

Thanks to all for the info posted. I'm just looking at a range of different options.