Planning

How to avoid planning permission

One of the easiest ways to move up the property ladder is to renovate and extend your home rather than going through the hassle of selling your home, buying another and paying the Stamp Duty and fees that go with all of that.

For building an extension, you may not even need Planning Permission. No planning permission is required if you:

Build an extension to the rear of your house which does not increase the original floor area of your home by more than 40 square metres (430.5 sq ft) and is not higher than the house. So, you can build on a 5m (16.4ft) x 8m (26ft) room, for example, without planning permission. However, the extension should not reduce the open space at the back of the house to less than 25 square metres (269 sq ft) and any extension above ground level must be at least 2 metres (6.5 feet) from any boundary.

Convert a garage at the rear or side of the house to domestic use so long as it has a floor area of less than 40 square metres (430.5 sq ft).

Build a garage at the back or side of a house as long as it does not extend past the front of your house and is less than four metres (13 feet) in height if it has a tiled or slated pitched roof or three metres (9.8 feet) if it has any other roof type. But the floor area is limited to 25 square metres (269 sq ft). New garages or sheds at the side of the house must match the house's finish and may not be lived in or used for commercial purposes.

Build a front porch as long as it does not exceed two square metres (21.5 sq ft) in area and is more than two metres (6.5 feet) from a public road or footpath. If the porch has a tiled or slated pitched roof, it must not be more than four metres (13 feet) in height or three metres (9.8 feet) if it is any other roof type.

Build a capped wall from brick, stone or block or timber as long as it is not over 1.2 metres (3.9 feet) in height or 2 metres (6.5 feet) at the side or rear of the house. Gates must not be more than 2 metres (6.5 feet) in height.

Note: For terraced or semi-detached houses, the floor area of any extension above ground level must not exceed 12 square metres (129 sq ft) (including any previous extensions carried out).

Other restrictions apply. For more information, see the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001.