Die Regeln für den Bau einmaliger Häuser auf dem Land werden bis zum Sommer gelockert, sagt Wohnungsbauminister James Browne

Yes, more eyesore cream concrete blocks to obnoxious grand designs gaffs!

We’ve the most over populated countryside ratio in Europe. Let’s continue the trend of stretching resources, high heating and congesting roads cus everyone living down a donkey cart road needs to drive to a city center to do their job

Stupid decision, people are ruining the countryside with stupid houses that are too big and they cant heat them. Plus the cost of providing services to them is growing and growing

Why do people need one off houses? nothing wrong with living in an estate

Just some people have their heads so far up their own whole they want to build a stupid big McMansion in the middle of nowhere and they spend the rest of their lives crying about the lack of services

this is the exact opposite of what the country needs

This is insane. Hope the LPT is raised 10 fold for these houses.

Can’t imagine why people *wouldn’t* want to live in the country with how friendly all the townies in the comments are.

Also, clearly these muppets aren’t aware that people living in the countryside already DO pay more for utilities than people in urban areas.

The one thing Ireland didn’t need more of. Like it’s not hard to get right. More homes yeah but not one offs

This is a retrograde move that has more to do with appeasing the fantasies of the rural independents than sound housing and community policy. We can’t complain about a lack of rural services and the isolation of rural communities, and at the same time encourage policies that cause those problems.

I have a family member jumping through hoops to finish building a house in rural area that another family member started. So while I can see the advantage in relaxing rules. I would prefer a simple and clear process of what is needed. He is tired of getting told to ‘hire a planning consultant’.

This does not sound like a good idea.

The problem is that one-off rural houses are a consequence of severe lack of any proper medium to long term urban planning. Almost every side road in rural areas have become ‘rural streets’, lots of one off houses each side of the road. They are building in rural Ireland as it is too difficult or expensive to buy/build in urban areas.

Leaving aside the damage to the country side, rural housing means cars, there really is not other option. This will make traffic in urban areas worse.

Profoundly

Personally I think this is a good thing. It’s not going to lead to an influx of one off housing but it’s going to allow people easier access who might plots available near family members. I know of several people put through the mill despite being near existing houses.

And of course, most commenters in this sub are saying it’s a bad thing.

We have a housing crisis, we need to open the flood gates.

Most towns already have houses in rural areas in every direction we can add more, we have plenty of space, people already live there.

Not everyone wants to live in a town.

Not allowing one off housing actually creates a monopoly where only developers can build houses.

Rural ireland is declining, building more housing is a positive

I’m fully prepared to get downvoted to hell for this.

I’ve always had the impression that a lot of the strong opposition to single family housing comes from jealousy. People who don’t have the opportunity to do it themselves are useing environmental concerns as a way to justify their jealousy.

Like, half the comments I see here talk about how it’s bad for the environment because of emissions and the impact on the grid. Yet, most houses nowadays are built with solar panels. Batteries are already pretty affordable, and within the next 5 to 10 years, they’ll be cheap enough that almost anyone could have them installed in their house. With most people switching to electric cars, most of these talking points will pretty much be almost non-existent or heavily reduced

Proper order.

Now hear me out, why can’t we have multiple parallel solutions instead of shouting down every decent idea just because it’s not your pet idea?

We have record homelessness. Record. One off rural homes are mostly built by people either in, or related to someone in, the trades. They dont detract labour or priority from mega estates which is where the money is, they are almost always built by the owner.

This measure is a small token to relieve the tremendous housing pressure our current policies have led us to, no more.

Shouting down other people providing homes for themselves, at no cost to you, is either pure jealousy or arrogant privilege. Why should you dictate what somebody you’ll probably never meet does with their own money and hard work?

The amount of blatant anti-rural sentiment in this thread is shocking

There’s a certain dogma that one off housing is bad, but let’s review the realities of rural housing before abject condemnation.

With regard to housing supply in rural areas, with no luxury taxation or disencentives on holiday homes many rural areas 2nd hand housing market is out of reach of locals. Further to that with land hoarding within villages and towns there is no new supply available and again the government is doing nothing with regard to this. Also, all towns large enough to have a Local area plan have this insane zoning method where zone 1 residential must be developed before zone 2 can be then developed…if the land owners in zone 1 don’t have the means or intention to develop…then tough shit, no housing for that town.

Then let’s look at the outcomes of anti one off housing particularly in areas of high high holiday homes, the infrastructure exists, the councils are legally obliged to maintain it, the utilities will do the same…so in areas as low as 30% year around occupancy, policy is creating a situation where we are paying for empty boreens to have their roads maintained and utilities must do the same. Nowhere is it mentioned how reducing one off housing will do anything with regard to this.

Lastly, if people can’t choose to have a home in the area they grew up in, it’s pretty much a form of removal. It further guts the economy of that area, and leaves only an ageing population with no one locally left over to look after them. This only further adds to the cost of the state.

So to sum up, the market is distorted, new supply isn’t becoming available, the result is only those wealthy enough to afford it getting all the infrastructure for a place they don’t live in, and areas slowly being hollowed out. Yet the dogma is one off housing is bad, and we should further restrict housing in the worst housing crisis in the last fifty years. It’s not exactly all that well thought out as it’s proponents would have it now is it?