Why some Tipperary homeowners still need planning permission despite new modular home exemptions
Homeowners across Tipperary who have already installed modular homes in their back gardens cannot use the Government’s new planning exemptions to legalise them, councillors have been told.
Under the new regulations, homeowners can install a standalone modular home of up to 45 square metres in the back garden of their principal residence without applying for planning permission, provided they notify the local authority in advance. The units can house family members or long-term tenants, but cannot be sold separately or used for short-term lets.
Existing modular homes will instead require retention planning permission if they were installed without approval.
At the July meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District, councillors discussed the exemptions, and what they would mean for people looking to add such units to their homes.
Independent councillor Liam Browne asked members of the council’s planning section what the rules meant for people who have already built such units in their gardens.
“What’s the story with modular buildings that are already there? I don’t mean the ones that are before the courts at the moment, but a lot of people have them already in their gardens.
“Is there a way for these people to regularise their planning situation with these new rules?” Cllr Browne asked.
In response, senior planner with Tipperary County Council Anne-Marie Devaney said that the new exemptions could not be used for people who already have modular homes installed.
“They cannot avail of the exemption because the exemption requires a two-week notification prior to undertaking the development.
“Anything that currently exists, technically, would be unauthorised, and we have some enforcement cases which we’re required by law to process,” Ms Devaney said.
“For the ones that exist, there is the option to come in and seek retention of them, even though they may meet the exemptions, the fact that the application didn’t come in two weeks before, there isn’t a retrospective application,” she added.
The senior planner also told councillors that if a homeowner already has a garage or a shed that they built without needing planning permission, they may not be able to add a modular unit to their property.
“The exemption is limited by any other Class 3 structure that is in that garden. Class 3 is a garage, an awning, a shed, so the exemption looks at the combined floor area,” she said.
“If you have a 45 square metre garage in your garden, you can’t avail of the exemption,” Ms Devaney added.
Cllr Browne then asked if this meant that people who have garden sheds would see the floor area of the shed taken into consideration under the new rules.
“Most people have some sort of a garden shed, so are you saying that would be taken away from the square meterage?” he said.
Ms Devaney said the exemption takes into account the combined floor area of all Class 3 structures, including garages and sheds. As an example, she said someone with a five-square-metre garden shed could only install a modular home of up to 40 square metres under the exemption.
“As the exemption is written, with any other Class 3 structure, it is the combined floor area,” she said.