Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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151. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the progress that has been made in addressing action 60 of the Rural Development Policy 2021-2025 (details supplied) review and to extend the regulations which exempt certain vacant commercial premises, such as over the shop-type spaces, from requiring planning permission for change of use for residential purposes in accordance with housing activation and Town Centre First policies. [18052/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Planning and Development (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2018, which came into operation on 8 February 2018, provide for an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission in respect of the change of use of certain vacant commercial premises to residential use, including the conversion of vacant areas above ground floor commercial premises 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 the bringing on stream of increased housing supply.

Both Our Rural Future – Rural Development Policy 2021 to 2025 and the recently published Housing Plan for Ireland - Housing for All commit to reviewing and extending the 2018 regulations to the end of 2025.

To this end, new regulations entitled the Planning and Development Act (Exempted Development) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 75 of 2022) were signed into law by Minister O'Brien on 21 February last, thereby delivering on this commitment.