Kerry council shoots down rural holiday-home proposal

A MOVE by a group of Kerry councillors to allow private houses to be sold as holiday homes after they have been lived in by the original owners for two years has failed.

Former Kerry Mayor Michael Healy-Rae, who has been campaigning for an easing of planning regulations in rural areas, proposed that the controversial occupancy clause remain at two years, but the house owners should then be free to dispose of the property as they wish. He said the burden should then be removed to allow the house to be sold for any purpose, including a holiday home.

The draft new Kerry County Development Plan stipulates that a residence can be sold after two years, but only as a permanent residence not as a holiday home.