In this article we cover:
- What the SCSI suggests
- Rationale behind limiting the number of one-off houses
- Context
Getting planning permission to build in the countryside could become harder for self-builders, if recommendations from the SCSI become reality.
In a bid to prevent ‘ribbon development’, the haphazard practice of building houses outside cities and towns and into the countryside, the SCSI’s incoming president Gerard O’Toole says the ROI government should limit the number of one-off houses that get planning permission.
The government should “consider implementing a maximum threshold of ribbon development permissions for each county to manage the levels of one-off houses being built in this manner”, reads the SCSI press release.
The SCSI argues one-off development should be built in clusters or show “a strong housing need, such as strong ties with agriculture”.
O’Toole says planning authorities should compile data to identify the number of planning permissions granted for single houses that qualify as ‘ribbon development’ and those that qualify as ‘clustered housing’ and decide on what limit to put on each.
“Rural housing planning guidelines in the new National Housing Plan should transition away from ribbon development towards a more ‘clustered’ rural housing delivery in the interest of proper planning and sustainability,” states the SCSI press release.
Clustered housing guidelines were first introduced in Tipperary, with the ROI government backing the policy in principle. It promotes houses being built in groups or clusters rather than dotted around the countryside.
An update to the government’s rural housing guidelines is long overdue, with successive governments reneging on their promise to publish them.
