Garden homes

Yes. Granny flat is the everyday name. A garden home is a home of its own in the back garden, with a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and its own front door, for a parent, a grown son or daughter or another family member.

Usually not, since 27 July 2026, when every condition is met and the council is told at least 14 days before the work starts. The main ones: you own the house and it is your main home. The home is at least 32 m², and together with any shed or garden room already there that needed no planning permission, no more than 45 m². It sits in the back garden, at least 0.6 m from every wall and boundary. It is no more than 3 m high, or 4 m with a tiled or slated pitched roof. At least 25 m² of garden is left, and it runs on your house's water, drains and power. The exemption runs to 31 December 2030. (S.I. 340 of 2026, Class 3A.)

Yes. It is lived in together with your house, as the rule says. It cannot be sold or split off from the house, and it cannot be used for short term lets. It is a new home under the Building Regulations, and they apply in full.

The main conditions: you own the house and it is your main home. At least 25 m² of garden is left for the house after the build. The home sits 0.6 m or more from every wall and boundary. And any shed or garden room already there that needed no planning permission counts towards the 45 m². Send your Eircode and a photo. We reply quickly and go through it with you. Where there is doubt, a Section 5 declaration from the council is the formal answer in writing: €80, usually within four weeks. (Planning and Development Act 2000, section 5; the fee as stated by Meath County Council.)

One fixed price for the size, VAT included. Two bedrooms from 40 m². Pick the size and the roof in the builder and your estimate comes by email.

About 4 weeks from your deposit to the start of the build. The two notices go in first: the council at least 14 days before the start, building control 14 to 28 days before. You get the dates with the price.

A notice to your council at least 14 days before the work starts, on the council's own form or the Department's template where it has none: the address and Eircode, the start date, the reason for the home, and a tick list that the garden meets every condition. Meath asks for a site map with the site outlined in red. It is a notice, not an application: no fee, and no decision comes back. The council keeps a record, and in Meath the record is public. You send it as the owner, and we advise and help you with it. Keep the sent copy with the house papers.

They apply in full, the same as a new house, planning exemption or not: structure, fire safety, ventilation, drains, energy, level access. Building control is told 14 to 28 days before the start, with the design signed and a certifier named. When it is finished, the completion certificate is registered before anyone moves in. A standalone building under 50 m² needs no BER, the energy rating. (S.I. 340 of 2026, condition 4; Department of Housing note, July 2026; for the BER, S.I. 243 of 2012.) Our architect partner designs yours to them, like any new house, and certifies it on completion; we sign as the builder.

The exemption is for a home started and finished by 31 December 2030. A late 2030 start leaves no room for delays.

A garden pod is a room for your use: an office, a gym, a studio. It is not a home, and it can be up to 30 m². A garden home is a home: 25 to 95 m², a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. The Building Regulations for a new house apply to it. At 32 to 45 m² it can go ahead with a notice to the council; other sizes need a planning application.