Keep Tipp housing local

LOCAL authority officials are advising Tipperary county councillors to stipulate that one-off rural houses should be reserved for locals.

They are responding to increasing demand for one-off houses, which is pushing up prices, and threatening to put housing beyond the reach of many locals a phenomenon which is already well established across much of Ireland, especially in tourist areas.

"An element of 'need' so that the available sites could be preserved for the people that have roots of some description in some particular area" was called for by Paddy Heffernan, Planning and Environment Director with North Tipperary County Council, at the council's recent conference on one-off rural housing.