The Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2018 provided for an exemption, up until the end of 2021, from the requirement to obtain planning permission in respect of the change of use of certain vacant commercial premises, including vacant or under-utilised areas over ground-floor shops and offices, to residential use. This measure was aimed at facilitating the productive re-use of qualifying vacant commercial buildings as homes, while also facilitating urban renewal and increasing housing supply.
Under Housing for All - A New Housing Plan for Ireland, the planning exemptions under the 2018 Regulations were subsequently extended until the end of 2025 by way of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development) Regulations 2022. These Regulations included a new and additional class of premises eligible to avail of the planning exemption, that of public houses capable of providing up to a maximum of 9 residential units. The inclusion of this new exemption class is designed to ease the burden of converting public houses, which are no longer viable and have ceased to operate - and of which there are many in our cities, towns and villages throughout the country - to residential accommodation.
Since the planning exemptions for the conversion of vacant commercial premises were first introduced in 2018, local authorities have received a total of 898 notifications relating to the provision of 2,066 additional homes throughout the country, if activated. In 2022, further to the extension of the measure to include vacant public houses, local authorities received specific notifications in respect of the conversion of 53 public houses with a view to providing a total of 169 homes from these conversions.
While I have no plans to introduce any further planning exemptions in this area at this point in time, I would propose to keep possible further measures in this area under ongoing review.
