Excess of one-off homes

Young people emigrating over restrictive planning policy

Young people are emigrating because they can’t build a home in the countryside, where one-off housing is already “far exceeding” the targets of the 2022-2028 Tipperary County Development Plan.

Before the January meeting of Tipperary Co Council was a notice of motion from Cllrs Mark Fitzgerald and Máirín McGrath, who wanted the local authority to review its policy on the development of single rural houses along ‘strategic’ regional routes under the County Development Plan. They wanted the council to regard “the increasingly restrictive impact of the Rural Housing Policy on landowners seeking to build their own homes”.

Cllr McGrath said the motion was born of frustration. She claimed that the council’s policy is preventing people who have money to build their own house from doing so in a time of housing crisis.

While she accepted that the council has a refusal rate of just four percent for such houses, Cllr McGrath said this figure does not include planning applicants who withdraw their application over the restriction, or people advised by planning agents to “not bother” applying for permission because the restriction would make it unfeasible.

‘WON’T OPEN THE FLOODGATES’

Cllr McGrath believed that lifting or easing the restriction would assist the housing situation for a relatively small number of people looking to build houses in rural areas. “It won’t open the floodgates,” she commented.

Cllr Séamie Morris supported the motion, saying the difficulty in building a house locally has far-reaching consequences. “I know young people who emigrated because they didn’t even bother with planning,” he said. “I don’t want to tell any young person: ‘sorry’.”

Cllr Phyll Bugler also spoke in support of the motion and called for greater flexibility for people building in rural areas. “We have a housing shortage and it’s terrible to see people not able to build on their own land because of this,” she opined.

CLUBS IN DANGER

Cllr Fitzgerald spoke of rural sports clubs facing an uncertain future over local couples unable to build a family home in the locality. For some, the only way of getting a house is from a site provided by their parents, he said, calling on the council to “think outside the box” in terms of rural housing solutions.

Cllr Liam Browne made the point that the Tipperary County Development Plan (TCDP) is not national policy; it is something that the local authority can do something about. “We’ve got to help people build houses,” he exclaimed. “We’re finding more excuses to stop people building houses than helping them.”

But the directors of planning and roads services, Brian Beck and Liam Brett, took a different view. Mr Beck pointed out that the policy was discussed when the council was drafting the TCDP in 2022 and it was agreed to by the elected members. Road safety was a key concern.

‘NOT RESTRICTIVE’

Mr Beck said the council does everything it can to work with young people in trying to build their own home. “Our planners go out of their way in trying to find solutions for people building,” he said. “We’re not restrictive.” However, he added that “individual circumstances don’t make for good policy”.

Mr Brett said the roads in question provide access to towns and shops; they are also used as relief roads when motorways are closed. “Every additional entrance reduces the safety and carrying capacity of that route.” Mr Brett said the Department of Transport is not in favour of adding houses to such routes.

The TCDP identifies ‘Strategic Transport Corridors’ and defines these as national and strategic regional roads. The plan states that these roads are generally unsuitable for new housing development, but includes a number of criteria where new dwellings may be facilitated.

These include circumstances where an applicant meets an ‘Economic Need’ and/or ‘Social Need’, and where no alternative sites are available away from the strategic route. The new dwelling must share the existing domestic entrance of the applicant’s family dwelling and meet defined sightline requirements.

“There is no apparent evidence that would suggest a change of policy approach in this regard should be effected,” the council’s formal reply to the motion stated. “This, together with the fact that delivery of one-off countryside homes is already far exceeding TCDP targets, would indicate a more relaxed approach would be unsubstantiated.”

‘NOT A BLANKET NO’

Despite this position, Mr Beck said the council would be prepared to undertake a review of the policy in the event of new evidence or changing circumstances. “It’s not a blanket no,” he said.

The council is working on a variation to the TCDP with regard to land zoning. This would be coming before the council later this year and there may be an opportunity then to deal with the one-off housing issue, Mr Beck said.