Unauthorised Development Question

Just on 7 year rule, I am aware of a bungalow that was developed without planning here in Roscommon near Athlone, that had to be knocked when the land was sold after the owner died. The sale didn't go through until all buildings were gone. However the foundations remain. The house had been standing for over 13 years with no action by council, despite complaints by neighbours of it being built illegally. 3 planning requests were turned down by council. And the land/site had at least 3 buyers and eventually sold at half its valuation... I'd say because development potential has been wrecked.

Anticipated what ?

The OP three hundreds of thousands of money into a building that now has no value.

He defrauded the state via claiming for this through his company.

He can't get house insurance and he can't sell it.

As he put it he was always going to build without permission.

The OP clearly has funds and means and could have purchased a house anywhere or built within the existing processes but he's better than everyone else it seems.

Personally I hope he's found out and the book is thrown at him. There's nothing cynical about it it's classic self interest.

I'm sure his neighbours think he's great , what about when he decides he's got away with this and looks to extend more or make a bit of wedge building more to sell. Where does it end....

Your car insurance is invalid, given that you are being untruthful about your actual home address.

is there a risk that Revenue makes the connection between the house and the company books?

on top of this, i thought the demolition cost was at the owners expense. Is it correct?

it may be cost neutral for house cost versus rent but the 2 points above could make it costly overall.

Has to be a troll. The sort of person who does something so brazen is generally not the sort of person who would become concerned enough to ask advice from strangers on the internet. This ticks several boxes for a windup - large house, no planning, no insurance, potentially dodgy tax, architect knew there was no planning. Come on!

If it is genuine what I'll say is the Councils are an under resourced shambles. When it come to enforcement they react to complaints and are often inept even at that. BTW complaints will often come from relatives. If I had built that house I would be constantly on the defensive about not drawing attention to myself and wouldn't trust anyone, no matter how friendly they might seem, not to report me.

Regarding drones, every so often I hear scare stories about helicopters, planes and drones flying over the countryside being used to catch people for various transgressions such as planning and "pollution", While there may be a very limited amount of proactive use of drones, much more likely that if one is used (which is still unlikley).it would be for an initial aerial survey after a complaint or incident. And yes they do have the right to fly over anyone's land taking pictures of unauthorised developments etc.

You are rationalising the decision to drive without insurance, in order to allow you to breach planning laws for your own financial gain. That is fairly anti-social behaviour.

Your questions about drones or compliance activity are meaningless. It doesn't matter what actions the Council take today. The real question is what actions the Council will take in five years time. Unless someone has a crystal ball or a time machine, they won't be able to answer the question.

There's also a good chance that you will trigger an exception in some Revenue report, when they compare your declared income to your outgoings. You're choosing to build your family home on very flimsy legal and financial foundations.

Lots of people use parents address as home address & might not live there full time. Also students who live in digs can have different addresses, people live part time with partners, holiday homes, living in hotels for job etc. How is the insurance invalid?

i have a friend that did same, cant remember what year it was but I think he's past the 7 years now. It just becomes a house that has no value except as a home that you cant sell except with out the purchaser needing credit and there are issues as the property doesn't have a folio but you can just transfer the land and the house is sorta there. Obviously rural `probably near enough to you. We have proof of the building in the form of detailed photos and video and google maps images all emailed with time stamp and i think he even got some legal stuff on it as well.

I think OP is only concerned that council will make him knock it after it's built. That is definitely the case in a case in meath and there was a house in kerry that was demolished in an area of scenic beauty a few years back. My experience of roscommon coco is that they are super slow to get things demolished that have no planning. IMHO chances of council making you knock it are low in near term, but are very high long term.

There's definitely problems for mortgage access and house insurance without planning.

But in mean time I don't see any reason why you can't get an eircode and OP can regularise his tax affairs with revenue in terms of income tax on the "drawings" and pay property tax when new tax is rolled out this year. Then use it for car insurance and be fully legal from day 1. He'll be paying electricity and bin charges from day 1, so he'll have proof for "7 year" reason...

And on the "7 year" rule I think we've established that it will have little significance when it comes to the building eventually being dealt with by the council.

Don't forget most retentions are granted. That development, despite enlarging the house probably did not go against any planning guidelines for the area. It was same sewer connection, there was no change of use. The extension probably was in similar style to existing houses.

Building a brand new house in the country generally brings more complications for retention. The councils are concerned orderly development to facilitate easier servicing of dwellings with power, water, sewage, waste, telecoms etc. There's a huge legacy issue with random ribbon development in Ireland and council planning policy is trying not to let it get worse. They're failing dismally, but they're certainly slowing it down. Local need, style of house and location of and types of septic tanks and waste water processing are large hurdles for the wannabe country mansion dweller needs to overcome.

It's a gamble going for retention. OP approach is do nothing, say nothing and I'll get away with it. He's hoping better odds for his new home not being demolished.

Ya, I think we've gone way beyond the knock on consequences of building without planning.

I actually can't see implications for taxman nor insurance, as long as OP states it's the home address.

It's solely the power of the county council that's in play here and the consequences for the building itself by having no planning.

But that's the issue, he didn't state it is the home address for insurance.

I haven't done commercial insurance recently, but I thought that a question about where the vehicle is stored overnight was standard.

OP, were you asked about where the vehicle is stored overnight?

What about your partner's car? That's the problem with living in the middle of nowhere- every movement out of the house requires a car. What's the story with insurance of the other vehicle.