Councillors in Co Carlow have their say on relaxing rules for one-off homes
In 2025, 71 out of 203 houses granted planning permission in Carlow were one-off homes
THE announcement that rules for building one-off homes in rural areas in Carlow are to be relaxed, on the one hand is “quite a welcome step” said Fianna Fáil cllr Daniel Pender, but on the other “we’re yet to see any proper detail on it”.
His reaction comes two weeks after minister for housing James Browne, in an interview with a Sunday newspaper, said that his department would relax the rules for one-off housing development in rural areas before the summer. His department had previously indicated in November 2025 that a statement on rural planning was forthcoming.
Cllr Pender describes the current policy that requires people to demonstrate an economic or social necessity in order to build a house on their land in a rural area as “fundamentally ridiculous. It’s a line on a map, essentially. If you live in Ballinabranna within the speed limit signs, you cannot build beyond that,” he explained.
Carlow Co Council’s rural development policy published in 2022 states that a social connection to a local rural area applies where the person has lived full time within 8km of the site in question for a minimum of five consecutive years any time before making a planning application, including returning migrants seeking a permanent home in their local rural area.
Over the past eight years, 43% of houses that were approved for planning permission in Carlow were one-off homes. In 2025, 71 out of 203 homes granted planning permission in Carlow were one-off. Nationally, 5,095 one-off houses were granted planning permission last year.
“Most people looking to build in rural areas are from those areas. I think it would be great if planning regulations were eased a bit,” concurred Sinn Féin cllr Jim Deane. “It’s about time some sense has come into planning. It’s lovely to see houses going up in rural areas, to see young families bringing life back into rural Ireland.”
Cllr Pender recalls one family from his constituency having to move out of the county to upsize their family home and another who had moved to a local village and were advised to rent a house outside the village boundaries for six years in order to pass the social necessity test.
He says it is particularly affecting his age cohort of people who are looking at returning home, building and getting on with their life. “You should be allowed to build on your own land, in your own village,” he said.
Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere also said he was “delighted” at the news after years of advocating for change to the national planning guidelines. “These rules have been far too restrictive for genuine rural families, and I have consistently argued that they need to be revised so that local people are not forced to leave their home areas.”
The counter-argument, as outlined by columnist Paul O’Donoghue in , is that dispersed housing development will increase car dependency, put pressure on the provision of public services and disrupt the visual amenity. He described the announcement as “a major roll-back in policy”.
In a statement, the planning department of Carlow Co Council said: ‘The revised policy considerations regarding rural one-off dwellings are awaited and are due to be published as a national planning statement in the coming months. Following publication of same, Carlow Co Council will review the revised provisions and implement as may be deemed appropriate.’
“It’s a game of wait and see,” noted cllr Pender.
