One-off housing
Encyclopedia
One-off housing is a term used in Ireland
to refer to the building of individual rural houses, outside of towns and villages. The term is used to contrast with housing developments where multiple units are constructed as part of a housing estate
or city street. Less commonly, the term is used to refer to infill housing in suburban areas. There is currently much debate about the desirability of this type of development.
of concrete block construction 1,500-2,500 square feet in floor area, with a rectangular footprint and a pitched roof. Dormer
windows are often set in the roof, indicating a converted loft. The building is sited in a rectangular plot of around ½-1 acres (4,046.9 m²). Windows are typically double-glazed with white uPVC frames. A garage with pitched roof is located to one side and cars are parked in front of the house. A fence separates the front of the plot from the road with a single entrance for cars marked by concrete gate posts and a cattle grid
.
More ornate houses may have Spanish style features such as an arched portico
and terra cotta
tiles. Some dwellings make classical allusions by placing pillars before the front door, supporting a pediment
over an open porch
. Others make use of Victorian features, such as bay window
s cast iron lamp stands and red brick walls.
A septic tank
is used for sewage treatment, a well
is drilled to provide fresh water, while a satellite dish
provides television reception.
A 2002 publication by the ESRI reported that one third of Ireland's housing stock consists of one-off houses.
Of 11,604 houses granted planning permission in Ireland in 2010, 48% were for one-off houses.
, has stated that Irish Stone Age
rural settlements were dispersed throughout the countryside but that in recent years planners were using British Anglo-Saxon planning models that emphasise "settlement in urban areas - nucleation settlements".
Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche
, has supported the view that one-off housing is a continuation of the traditional land use patterns in Ireland for millennia.
In contrast, An Tasice has argued that early settlements were nucleated and communal, often surrounded by ringfort
s for protection. It also argues that the environmental effects of one-off housing in the Stone Age were different from those observed in a car-dependent modern lifestyle.
have stated that these groups are more likely to suffer from obesity.
Senator Mary Henry has pointed out that one-off houses are often built without any footpath connection to a local town, thus discouraging walking.
(The foundation for the economics of sustainability) and COMHAR
(The national sustainable development partnership), have made the case that the increased demand for private car use that follows from one-off housing development will lead to a greater average carbon footprint
for residents of this type of dwelling. Increased CO2 pollution will, they claim, have negative environmental implications and lead to possible fines under the Kyoto Protocol
.
Even where services are sold at the same price as in urban areas, the quality is often poorer with, for example, frequent electricity power cuts, potholed roads, longer waits for emergency services and poor quality of internet access.
has referred to this cost transfer as a subsidy.
The same report identified other subsidies to one-off housing as: school transport, rural road maintenance, increased costs when upgrading national roads, environmental costs from pollution due to septic tanks, and uneven application of social and affordable housing levies between urban and rural houses.
By contrast, supporters of one-off housing speculate that subsidies may be paid by rural taxpayers whenever large infrastructure projects are constructed by the state in Dublin from central exchequer funds.
However, other commentators see one-off housing as actually undermining efforts to deliver national infrastructure, and unambiguously transferring costs to urban and suburban dwellers. Economist David McWilliams writes
It has been argued by Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D., Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, that the marginal cost of supplying services to new one-off houses is low. Irish planning commentator James Nix says
There are two counter-arguments: that one-off housing draws people out of rural towns and villages, stifling the growth of these regions, or else that population growth is not desirable in 'ultra-rural' areas that ought rather to become natural recreational areas with land-owners employed in land-maintenance, forestry and tourism-related services.
, it has become far cheaper to build rather than buy a house in Ireland and that one-off housing regulations allow for the conversion of inexpensive agricultural land into plots often worth more than €150,000 per site. They argue that farmers have become reliant on housing as a cash crop
, while one-off builders are motivated by the capital gains they expect to make on their property.
By contrast, advocates of one-off housing may characterise those who would limit this type of development as Dublin 4
urbanites motivated by a desire to maintain the hegemony of cities and put country people in their place. Opponents of one-off housing are sometimes compared to colonial British landlords from the era before Irish independence
.
, and by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
, Éamon Ó Cuív
. In 2005, the Irish government (a coalition between Fianna Fáil
and the Progressive Democrats
) introduced policy guidelines that detailed the circumstances under which one-off housing should be promoted. These guidelines were supported by Sinn Féin
and Fine Gael
(the largest opposition party).
The Irish Farmers Association and the Irish Rural Dwellers Association also promote one-off housing.
An Taisce
, an Irish conservation organisation, maintains a policy against the proliferation of one-off housing development. Frank McDonald
, a journalist with The Irish Times
coined the term 'Bungalow Blitz' in a series of articles condemning one-off housing in the 1980s. This was a pun on the title of a popular book named 'Bungalow Bliss' by Jack Fitzsimons, that contained architectural plans for bungalows intended to be used by those building their own homes. The Irish Green Party opposes the proliferation of one-off housing development.
The Stop Bungalow Chaos Campaign Group also actively lobbys against the current status quo policies favouring the proliferation of one-off housing in Ireland.
often allow one-off developments where they meet some of the following criteria:
According to Minister Éamon Ó Cuív, 80% of applications for one-off housing are approved.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
to refer to the building of individual rural houses, outside of towns and villages. The term is used to contrast with housing developments where multiple units are constructed as part of a housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
or city street. Less commonly, the term is used to refer to infill housing in suburban areas. There is currently much debate about the desirability of this type of development.
Characteristics of recent one-off houses
Other than being located outside any town or village, a typical one-off house built in the last twenty years is likely to be a bungalowBungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
of concrete block construction 1,500-2,500 square feet in floor area, with a rectangular footprint and a pitched roof. Dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
windows are often set in the roof, indicating a converted loft. The building is sited in a rectangular plot of around ½-1 acres (4,046.9 m²). Windows are typically double-glazed with white uPVC frames. A garage with pitched roof is located to one side and cars are parked in front of the house. A fence separates the front of the plot from the road with a single entrance for cars marked by concrete gate posts and a cattle grid
Cattle grid
A cattle grid or cattle guard – also known as a vehicle pass, Texas gate, stock gap A cattle grid (or stock grid)(British English) or cattle guard (American English) – also known as a vehicle pass, Texas gate, stock gap A cattle grid (or stock grid)(British English) or cattle guard (American...
.
More ornate houses may have Spanish style features such as an arched portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
and terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
tiles. Some dwellings make classical allusions by placing pillars before the front door, supporting a pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
over an open porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
. Others make use of Victorian features, such as bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
s cast iron lamp stands and red brick walls.
A septic tank
Septic tank
A septic tank is a key component of the septic system, a small-scale sewage treatment system common in areas with no connection to main sewage pipes provided by local governments or private corporations...
is used for sewage treatment, a well
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
is drilled to provide fresh water, while a satellite dish
Satellite dish
A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive microwaves from communications satellites, which transmit data transmissions or broadcasts, such as satellite television.-Principle of operation:...
provides television reception.
Prevalence
Government officials stated at a planning conference in 2001 that 36% of dwellings built in 2000 in Ireland were one-off houses. Recent years have seen a huge increase in the supply of all types of housing in Ireland with 547,000 houses, equivalent to a third of the total national housing stock, built in the period 1996-2006A 2002 publication by the ESRI reported that one third of Ireland's housing stock consists of one-off houses.
Of 11,604 houses granted planning permission in Ireland in 2010, 48% were for one-off houses.
Debate
The debate centres around the presumed rights of Irish people to live where and how they like versus the presumed obligation of the Irish state to curtail development patterns that it considers detrimental to society as a whole. There is a spectrum of opinion ranging from those who would oppose or allow all isolated rural development to those who would allow for isolated rural development in various circumstances.Right to build on ones's own land
There are two versions of this argument: that people should have the right to either build on land they own or else that people should have the right to build a house near to where their families live."Surely, if the culture of rural areas is to be preserved, then people from the countryside should not be routinely denied the opportunity to build a family home in their place of origin."
- Éamon Ó Cuív
Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Galway West constituency since 1992 and was previously a member of Seanad Éireann.-Early life:...
Traditional land use patterns
Dr Séamus Caulfield, retired professor of archaeology at University College DublinUniversity College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
, has stated that Irish Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
rural settlements were dispersed throughout the countryside but that in recent years planners were using British Anglo-Saxon planning models that emphasise "settlement in urban areas - nucleation settlements".
Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche
Dick Roche
Dick Roche is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency, and also served in Seanad Éireann from 1992 to 1997.-Early and private life:...
, has supported the view that one-off housing is a continuation of the traditional land use patterns in Ireland for millennia.
"We have a dispersed pattern of settlement going back thousands of years."
In contrast, An Tasice has argued that early settlements were nucleated and communal, often surrounded by ringfort
Ringfort
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Iron Age , although some were built as late as the Early Middle Ages . They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland...
s for protection. It also argues that the environmental effects of one-off housing in the Stone Age were different from those observed in a car-dependent modern lifestyle.
Tourism
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the Irish economy contributing up to €6 billion to the Irish economy annually. 80% of all holidaymakers visiting Ireland in 2006 listed the ‘beautiful scenery’ and 74% cited ‘unspoilt environment’ as key motivating factors in visiting Ireland. The continued policy mandating the proliferation of one-off rural housing will result in an erosion of the rural and natural environment and directly threatens the future viability of the Irish tourism sector.Health
Because the residents of one-off housing are more car-dependent than those living in towns and villages, organisations such as An TaisceAn Taisce
An Taisce , also known as the National Trust for Ireland, was established in 1948 with a similar mission to that of the National Trust in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
have stated that these groups are more likely to suffer from obesity.
Senator Mary Henry has pointed out that one-off houses are often built without any footpath connection to a local town, thus discouraging walking.
Energy Use
Irish organisations such as FEASTAFeasta
Feasta is an Irish-language magazine that was established in 1948. Its purpose is the furtherance of the aims of the Gaelic League, an objective reflecting the cultural nationalism of the language movement, and the promotion of new writing...
(The foundation for the economics of sustainability) and COMHAR
Comhar
Comhar is a prominent literary journal in the Irish language, published by the company Comhar Teoranta. It was founded in 1942, and has published work by some of the most notable writers in Irish, including Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Máirtín Ó Direáin, Máire Mhac an tSaoi and Brendan Behan...
(The national sustainable development partnership), have made the case that the increased demand for private car use that follows from one-off housing development will lead to a greater average carbon footprint
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
for residents of this type of dwelling. Increased CO2 pollution will, they claim, have negative environmental implications and lead to possible fines under the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
.
Lower quality and higher priced services
By their dispersed nature, one-off houses are built further away from commercial, utility, social and emergency services than urban dwellings. As a result, the cost of providing these services is increased.Even where services are sold at the same price as in urban areas, the quality is often poorer with, for example, frequent electricity power cuts, potholed roads, longer waits for emergency services and poor quality of internet access.
Subsidies
The increased cost of service provision to one-off houses must be paid either by the householder or absorbed by the service provider. In the latter case, The Irish Planning InstituteIrish Planning Institute
The Irish Planning Institute is the professional body representing the majority of professional planners engaged in physical and environmental planning in Ireland. Founded in 1975, the IPI now represents circa 700 qualified planners in Ireland...
has referred to this cost transfer as a subsidy.
"...in the postal service...all householders pay the same price for the service although deliveries to country homes cost 4 times more"
- Dr Diarmuid O Grada, MIPI
The same report identified other subsidies to one-off housing as: school transport, rural road maintenance, increased costs when upgrading national roads, environmental costs from pollution due to septic tanks, and uneven application of social and affordable housing levies between urban and rural houses.
By contrast, supporters of one-off housing speculate that subsidies may be paid by rural taxpayers whenever large infrastructure projects are constructed by the state in Dublin from central exchequer funds.
"Certain people in urban areas are concerned that it is their tax euro that are subventing those of us based outside the pale. Who has paid for the infrastructure projects on the east coast, such as Luas, the port tunnel and other large-scale multi-million pound projects? "
- Senator Timmy Dooley
Timmy DooleyTimmy Dooley is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Clare constituency since 2007, and was a member of the 22nd Seanad Éireann on the Administrative Panel from 2002–07....
However, other commentators see one-off housing as actually undermining efforts to deliver national infrastructure, and unambiguously transferring costs to urban and suburban dwellers. Economist David McWilliams writes
“Let us be very clear: if we have one-off housing, we cannot have a functioning public transport system, public health service, public education system or postal system, never mind universal access to broadband or cable. …….
So who pays? The worker who has abided by the laws, who has bought a place in a town or a village and who is not lucky enough to inherit land.”
It has been argued by Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D., Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, that the marginal cost of supplying services to new one-off houses is low. Irish planning commentator James Nix says
"The Minister’s primary argument can be described as “the house at the end of the valley point”. It posits the following: where utility lines, pipelines and post are already delivered to a house at the end of a valley, then there can be no argument against ribbon development on the road leading to that house. It must be said that this argument has an initial attractiveness to it. To some extent, however, it overlooks the fact that the “house at the end of the valley” is usually served at shoestring capacity. In other words a whole new infrastructure would be required to accommodate the addition of three or four houses on the road going into the valley.
Even where the services leading to the house at the end of the valley have untapped capacity, the previously expressed criticisms of urban-focused one-off housing are not displaced. The postal company still has to serve an additional three or four houses using a van or car. Household wastes are more expensive to collect or treat, and so on. Finally, the house at the end of the road into the valley is likely to be connected with a farming or forestry concern. It generates comparatively few traffic movements as compared with commuter-focused housing."
Rural depopulation
It is argued by Dick Roche that"The most important ingredient in rural development is population."The implication of this argument is that permitting one-off housing sustains rural populations by making it economically feasible for people to live in rural areas.
There are two counter-arguments: that one-off housing draws people out of rural towns and villages, stifling the growth of these regions, or else that population growth is not desirable in 'ultra-rural' areas that ought rather to become natural recreational areas with land-owners employed in land-maintenance, forestry and tourism-related services.
Appeal to motive arguments
Opponents of one-off housing sometimes claim the motivation for this type of development is financial. Their argument is that due to the presumed Irish property bubbleIrish property bubble
The property bubble in the Republic of Ireland began in 2000 and peaked in 2006, as with many other western European countries, with a combination of increased speculative construction and rapidly rising prices....
, it has become far cheaper to build rather than buy a house in Ireland and that one-off housing regulations allow for the conversion of inexpensive agricultural land into plots often worth more than €150,000 per site. They argue that farmers have become reliant on housing as a cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
, while one-off builders are motivated by the capital gains they expect to make on their property.
By contrast, advocates of one-off housing may characterise those who would limit this type of development as Dublin 4
Dublin 4
Dublin 4 is a postal district of Dublin, Ireland including the suburbs of Sandymount, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Ringsend and Irishtown on the South side of Dublin....
urbanites motivated by a desire to maintain the hegemony of cities and put country people in their place. Opponents of one-off housing are sometimes compared to colonial British landlords from the era before Irish independence
Irish independence
Irish independence may refer to:* Irish War of Independence – a guerrilla war fought between the Irish Republican Army, under the Irish Republic, and the United Kingdom* Anglo-Irish Treaty – the treaty that brought the Irish War of Independence to a close...
.
"There could have been 40 houses on one road in my area - and, of course, the British landlords evicted them. Now unfortunate people are trying to get planning permission in those areas today but there is a new British landlord, An Taisce, objecting to them. "
- Johnny Brady
Johnny BradyJohnny Brady is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála from 1997 to 2007 for the Meath and Meath West constituencies....
TD, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food
Proponents and opponents
One-off housing development is broadly supported by the former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick RocheDick Roche
Dick Roche is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency, and also served in Seanad Éireann from 1992 to 1997.-Early and private life:...
, and by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is a senior minister at the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is Frances Fitzgerald, TD.-Overview:...
, Éamon Ó Cuív
Éamon Ó Cuív
Éamon Ó Cuív is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Galway West constituency since 1992 and was previously a member of Seanad Éireann.-Early life:...
. In 2005, the Irish government (a coalition between Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
and the Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
) introduced policy guidelines that detailed the circumstances under which one-off housing should be promoted. These guidelines were supported by Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
(the largest opposition party).
The Irish Farmers Association and the Irish Rural Dwellers Association also promote one-off housing.
An Taisce
An Taisce
An Taisce , also known as the National Trust for Ireland, was established in 1948 with a similar mission to that of the National Trust in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, an Irish conservation organisation, maintains a policy against the proliferation of one-off housing development. Frank McDonald
Frank McDonald
-Life:He was born in 1950 and educated at Kelly's Private School, Cabra Road; St Vincent’s CBS Glasnevin and University College Dublin, graduating with a BA in 1971...
, a journalist with The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
coined the term 'Bungalow Blitz' in a series of articles condemning one-off housing in the 1980s. This was a pun on the title of a popular book named 'Bungalow Bliss' by Jack Fitzsimons, that contained architectural plans for bungalows intended to be used by those building their own homes. The Irish Green Party opposes the proliferation of one-off housing development.
The Stop Bungalow Chaos Campaign Group also actively lobbys against the current status quo policies favouring the proliferation of one-off housing in Ireland.
Circumstances under which one-off housing may be encouraged
Local authoritiesLocal government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
often allow one-off developments where they meet some of the following criteria:
- The applicant intends to farm the surrounding land
- The applicant's parents own the land in question and are farmers
- The applicant commits not to sell the house for a number of years
- The applicant was born in the local area
- The local area is suffering from depopulation
- The applicant intends to work in the local area and not use the house as a base to commute to a city.
According to Minister Éamon Ó Cuív, 80% of applications for one-off housing are approved.