Local Senator Says New Planning Guidelines Will Improve "Restrictive" Nature Of Kildare Applications

Tuesday, 30 June 2026 10:38

By Daniel Maher

Draft planning guidelines would allow homeowners build a second one-off house on family land to facilitate downsizing, while simplifying planning rules and reducing red tape.

Building a home in rural Ireland could soon become much easier under new plans going to Cabinet today.

Draft planning guidelines would allow homeowners build a second one-off house on family land to facilitate downsizing, while simplifying planning rules and reducing red tape.

The guidelines would see changes such as building on family land, as well as a reduction in the amount of time someone has to have lived on land before applying for planning permission, from 16 to 10 years.

As well as this, under the new plans, the should be 10km from where the applicant lives, in Kildare it is currently 5km.

Speaking on Kildare Today, Fianna Fáil Senator for Kildare Fiona O' Loughlin said that it is the first national planning statement since 2005.

She added that there has been differences in how local authorities deal with planning applications, making some counties more restrictive than others:

"We would often hear that Kildare is overly restrictive, while people in Laois, Offaly and Carlow found it an awful lot easier to get planning."

Senator O' Loughlin added that the new guidelines will result in "consistency" and will "ensure planning decisions are evidence-based" as well as making sure each application is assessed on it's own basis.

"It will get rid of things like ribbon development, where before in Kildare [it was] really, really strict, if there was five houses in a row, the person applying for the sixth, wouldn't be allowed [planning permission]."

The full interview can be heard below: