Planning applications in County Dublin: the last 12 months

4,724 planning applications were lodged with the county's 3 planning authorities (Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council) in the 12 months to 13 October 2026, down 4% on the 12 months before. Of the applications decided in the same period, 86.8% were granted. Every one of them is on the public register — and the one that matters to a buyer is the one next door.

By planning authority

Dublin City Council’s applications stop appearing on the national register after 30 July 2026 (2,376 in this period), so its figures are left out of the totals above. Check the council’s own planning search for anything lodged since.

Applications lodged, county by county

• Dublin4,724
• Cork3,432
• Donegal2,579
• Galway2,384
• Meath1,851
• Kildare1,608
• Tipperary1,532
• Limerick1,493
• Wicklow1,401
• Mayo1,362
• Kerry1,282
• Wexford1,278
• Clare1,228
• Waterford1,149
• Laois1,063
• Louth1,044
• Kilkenny926
• Offaly864
• Cavan786
• Westmeath720
• Roscommon715
• Monaghan690
• Sligo560
• Carlow466
• Longford311
• Leitrim254

Why a buyer should look before bidding

A listing describes the house as it is today. The planning register describes what could change around it: an extension next door, a new estate on the field behind, a change of use on the corner. Applications nearby are not bad news in themselves — most are small domestic works, and most are granted — but a large scheme close by changes light, traffic and what the house is worth to the next buyer.

Once you own the home, the same register is how you hear about a neighbour's plans in time. Observations must reach the council within five weeks of the date it received the application, so the site notice on a fence is not a reliable way to find out.

Figures: the National Planning Applications register (Department of Housing and the local authorities, CC BY 4.0) — applications by received date between 14 October 2025 and 13 October 2026, and decisions by decision date in the same window. A grant includes conditional grants and retention permissions; refusals count refused permission and refused retention.

What else to read closely in County Dublin

With the country’s densest planning activity, the planning and neighbour-development checks are essential — the empty site next door rarely stays empty. For period homes, the BER check flags heating costs and retrofit potential; riverside and coastal areas carry documented flood history.

How a VeriSale report checks it for one address

VeriSale lists every planning application within 250 m of the property, with distance and decision, notes applications whose site boundary covers the property itself, reads the land-use zoning at the point and the development land nearby, and combines them into a neighbour-development-risk grade.

• A live application’s site boundary covers the propertyFlagged: “read the full file before proceeding.”
• Permission granted on the propertyFlagged mid: “confirm what was built matches what was permitted.”
• Applications nearbyCounted, with how many fall in the last five years; the grade eases as activity falls off.
• Neighbour development riskHigh, Moderate or Low — a grade that also counts land already zoned for building within reach of the property.

This is one of 39 checks in the report, each graded A–F with a plain-language summary. The report compiles public data; it is not a survey or legal advice. More about planning nearby and how to read it.

What to ask before you bid

• Are there any live or recently granted permissions on neighbouring sites, and what do they allow?
• Were all extensions and alterations on this property built in line with the permission (or exempt), and can the seller provide the certificates of compliance?
• What is the zoning of the open land nearest the property under the current development plan?

Frequently asked questions

More on County Dublin

Buying a house in Dublin: the full county guide

Planning applications in other counties