Unit 4 Ballyowen Castle Shopping Centre, Lucan, Co Dublin

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• Change of use planning permission in Ireland — 84% granted, short-term letting 2 in 6Dublin councils granted 455 of the 544 change-of-use applications they decided in the 12 months to September 2026. What a material change of use is, which changes are exempt under Part 4, and why short-term letting is refused more than any other.
• Protected structures and architectural conservation areas — what needs permission, the free section 57 declaration, and what the register shows368 applications naming a protected structure were decided across the Greater Dublin councils in 12 months and 88% were granted. What being on the Record of Protected Structures means, what an ACA takes away from the ordinary exemptions, how to get a section 57 declaration, and what buyers should check.
• Appeals overturned by council — how often An Coimisiún Pleanála reverses each Dublin council, and in which directionThe Commission reversed the council on 301 of 1,195 Dublin appeals decided in 24 months, 25%. South Dublin was reversed most (30%), Dublin City least (23%), and 76 of Fingal's 85 reversals turned a refusal into a grant. How the appeal works, what a reversal rate means, and how to read your council's number before you appeal.
• Judicial review of a planning decision in Ireland — eight weeks, substantial grounds, and who may bring oneThe Commission decided 510 appeals from the seven Dublin-area councils in the 12 months to September 2026, and each opened an eight-week judicial review window. What s.50 allows, what it costs, what the court can and cannot do, and how the 2024 Act changes standing.