Planning permission in Tipperary

Tipperary has Areas under Urban Influence, Primary Amenity Areas and Open Countryside. In all, you must be building your first home for your own permanent occupation, show a housing need, and not already own a house in the open countryside. In Areas under Urban Influence a social need means you lived within 10 km of the site, in the rural area outside towns of 1,500 or more, for a substantial part of your life (10 years). In Primary Amenity Areas the distance is 5 km. In Open Countryside there is no local-need test, but there must be no alternative site in a settlement within 5 km.

For economic need in the first two area types, a farmer must be actively farming (farming, horticulture, forestry or bloodstock) at the location for over 5 continuous years, and have never owned a house in the open countryside. Category A needs a farm of over 20 hectares. Category B covers smaller farms where farming is a significant part of the livelihood, and needs training in good farming practice (or an exemption) and a detailed 5-year business plan.

Where 5 houses already exist or are permitted within any continuous 250 metres of road, the council will seek to resist more. An extra house may be allowed if you show economic or social need, use existing or shared accesses, and there is no alternative site outside the ribbon. A gap site (a gap in a line of existing houses that fits one house) can be accommodated.