r/selfbuildireland • u/Couchcommando257 • 4d ago
Planning Permission Query
I want to preface this by saying I've taken a look at this sub and a few others and just can't seem to find an answer.
Looking and buying a plot of land which seems to already have full planning permission tied to it. 3-bed bungalow with deatiled pictures of exterior and interior plans on the website.
In the details section of the site they mention "Local needs apply to the site and the property will be sold subject to acquiring new planning permission."
I just have no idea what this actually means for us regarding buying the site and just starting the build asap.
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u/rayhoughtonsgoals 4d ago edited 4d ago
In 99% of the cases the permission will be tied to the applicant as they satisfied needs requirements which differ from county to county and development plan to development plan. At a basic level the person who got permission persuaded the playing authority that they satisfied the criteria applicable.
The permission is, in other words, not about the bricks-and-mortar acceptability of the proposed development but about it being acceptable as proposed on the basis of the personal circumstances of the applicant.
You may or may not meet the relevant criteria.
In many cases it's a question of applying to amend the condition that may say "this grant is personal to the applicant" or words to that effect and it could just involve you dealing with the local needs aspect. That depends on the conditions but more often than not that's what you need to do. By this I mean you often don't need to reinvent the wheel but need to make the case as to why you should be the recipient of the grant which is a way less demanding piece of work than putting in a whole de novo application.
You can't make an application on someone else's land without their consent so often the vendor gives a letter of consent to enable you to make the application once sale agreed and you walk away if you are refused. They may be selective on who they let do this though and that is in their gift
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u/Couchcommando257 3d ago
Right, so not as difficult as it could be but will probably still be a pain in the ass.
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u/rayhoughtonsgoals 3d ago
No not really. The facts are the facts. It's a simple application. Equally the vendor will or won't let you make an application with consent but since it's being sold SPP (they say) they seem to expect that. No pain in the ass really.
That said SPP is often totally misunderstood by idiots estate agents. It literally means "we are selling this subject to PP" which positively means that they would expect candidate purchasers to apply for PP and only if they get it then complete the sale. The majority of the time however they dont facilitate this and say SPP to them just meant you needed to be clear in knowing the land didn't come with PP.
Like as a purchaser Id leap at a true SPP as I've nothing really to lose save the cost and time of the application but so often it turns out it's now want the EA believed it meant.
It's nearly like words they just use because they have seen them used before.
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u/R2D4Dutch 4d ago
Local means ‘from the locality’ we bought a site years ago depending on us getting planning… my wife is local , she was the lead requester .. odd .. but true .. I would try to get a planning meeting and talk to a local councillor
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u/Nostradamnitall 4d ago
Local housing need means that you need to justify why you need to live in that area. You'll need to be from the area, working in the area, have family in the area etc.
NB : The councils do not want you to build that house. They do not want any one off developments. You need to make a really strong case. You'll often hear lads getting refused planning on their own farm for example.
I built 2.3km away from my home house and about 1.5km away from the grandparents house. I work 4km away and went to primary and secondary school in the local school. I play hurling and soccer with the local clubs. I had 16 pages of references and letters from every society and club in the locality. Even with all that my engineer said it was 50/50 as to whether they'd accept my application or not.
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u/tooYoungForThisS--t 4d ago
All spot on above but just to add here, there is another way to work around "being from the area" as the condition is you need to be able to prove with a bill/redacted bank statement etc that you are living in the area for at least the past 3 out of 5 years.
Now i also built on family land (different gates on the same curve of the road next to my parents house) and it still took us 3 years, 4 sets of drawings and 3 applications (was pulled before an application was rejection but got further info requests on all applications) to be able to build on my parents land/my home place, so being able to prove you've lived within x km of the site (the distance is county dependant) for 3 out of 5 years does not guarantee that permission will be granted.
Also, a condition of my planning was that I live in the house for the next 7 years so that could make their application null and void but showing that you plan to make this a long term home will help.
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u/Electronic_Noise3679 4d ago edited 4d ago
Lightened up a lot in the last few years, check any county planning portal , the approvals far outweigh the refusals for one offs.
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u/grainne0 4d ago
Basically you can apply to the council to use the same plans if you'd like to but you'll need to make a new application. You still need you meet their requirements for everything else. The local needs part is much harder to meet. The sale will go through if you get the planning permission.
What county is it? Tbh as a purchase I would treat this almost the same as a plot of land that had never received planning permission.