Planning permission gamble on 6.5 acre field

BUILDING sites are hard to get and, perversely, the bigger you buy, the cheaper they are to acquire.

A good example is a site on offer at the moment at Ballywilliam, Belgooly in Co Cork, a village between Kinsale and Carrigaline.

Anthony O’Regan of Keane Mahony Smith is selling a 6.5 acre field there for offers in the region of €120,000, but that’s without conditions, which basically means, you pays your money and you takes your chances on planning permission.

Now, the good people of the Planning Department of Cork County Council might point out that the land is zoned for purely agricultural purposes, in which case, it might not be easy to get permission to build a house

And however much you might represent yourself as a potential horse breeder, or even a leek grower, those same people in County Hall will patiently explain that to qualify under the agricultural banner, it has to be your principal source of income.

A buyer with deep pockets could just sit on the site and watch as it accumulates value. In time, and with some lobbying, it might be possible to get a house here.

The new regulations on rural housing, brought in by Minister Dick Roche in April of this year, should make it easier for applicants to be granted permission to build, especially if they are from, or have, connections to the area.

Despite being a bit up in the air, interest has been strong so far, says Mr O’Regan, and offers are close to €140,000 for the 6.5 acre field.