Urgent review of Limerick housing rules sought as High Court decision ‘changes everything’

A LOCAL councillor has called for an urgent review of rural housing rules after a landmark High Court judgment found that lack of affordability within a town or village can be a valid reason to grant permission for a one–off house in the countryside.

Speaking at the November meeting of the Adare–Rathkeale Municipal District, Cllr Bridie Collins said the ruling, involving a woman from Lusk, County Dublin who was refused permission by both the local authority and An Bord Pleanála before successfully appealing to the High Court, has the potential to “transform” how county development plans across Ireland are interpreted.

Under the current Limerick County Development Plan, settlements such as Adare, Patrickswell and Castletroy are categorised as tier-four towns. Residents of these areas must prove a 10-year rural connection within 10km of a site in order to qualify for a one-off build home.

Cllr Collins said this rule is excluding local families from their own parishes, even when they have long-established roots.

Sharing her own experience, she said her family had sold their home and business with the intention of building outside Adare, but were told they did not meet the strict 10-year requirement. “My husband could prove six years, not ten. Yet someone with no connection to Adare, but who grew up in Ballybrown, could get permission on the same site. That is the dilemma.”

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She has repeatedly argued that lack of affordability within tier-four settlements should be grounds for a positive planning assessment. However, planners have consistently told councillors that affordability “cannot be used” as a justification.

The High Court decision, she said, now contradicts that position. “If this stands and isn’t appealed to the Supreme Court, it sets precedent. That means we will need to look at changing our own development plan.”

The matter has now been referred to the council's Economic Development and Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) for detailed discussion, with Cllr Collins indicating she will seek a special meeting devoted solely to the issue.

She stressed the broader impact on communities like Adare, where high land values and the absence of government-backed affordable schemes are forcing young people out. “It is a quintessentially Irish thing to want to live within your parish, to play GAA, to send your children to the same school you went to.”

Cllr Collins said she will continue pushing for policy change: “While I have breath in my body, I will be fighting for our young people to be able to live in their parish and to make sure development is sustainable, but also fair. Our young people deserve options and this decision changes the landscape.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme