Hundreds of people carried out building works without planning permission

A LIMERICK TD has expressed his surprise at the number of retention permissions which have been denied by the local authorities in Limerick.

It comes as hundreds of people in Limerick who carried out building works without planning permission have been granted retention approval

Limerick City and County Council approved 802 retention applications, while 88 were refused since 2019. The figures were uncovered following a nationwide investigation by the Irish Independent.

Independent Ireland TD Richard O'Donoghue said he was surprised to see the number of applications that were refused.

“It's very unusual that a retention application would fail,” he added.

Mr O'Donoghue said that retentions can fail when the applicant does not provide adequate details in their response to the local authority, or when infrastructure, such as roads or public developments, are set to be built on land where an unauthorised development may be.

“Still, it is surprising that this amount of applications has failed,” Mr O'Donoghue said.

Some of the works which may need retention orders could be considered small-scale, such as the addition of windows, others are on a bigger scale.

“During the housing crisis, a lot of people may have put some sort of accommodation into a garage or something like that,” said Mr O'Donoghue - outlining one of the many reasons people in Limerick may be applying for a retention application.

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According to the Limerick TD, an enforcement order, the notice sent out to those who have done work without the relevant permissions, usually only goes out when the works have come to the attention of the council, or when the owner is applying for a loan or looking to sell the property.

“But it's very unusual to see that the Council would actually try and take down any structure,” Mr O'Donoghue said.

Mr O'Donoghue gave his advice to anyone who may receive an enforcement notice regarding a development that may need a retention application.

“Anyone who gets an enforcement letter from the local authority, and it can be a scary letter, reply to it. Do not ignore the letter,” he added.