PPS14, as it was known, created a strict new presumption against one-off rural housing, but it still permitted generous exemptions. In the first year the policy was in effect, two-thirds of applications for one-off rural housing were approved. Many officially recognised settlements in Northern Ireland are home to just two or three dozen people. Overloaded sewers are a key reason house-building in Northern Ireland has dropped to historic lows over the past decade. To that extent, building one-off houses in the countryside has impeded house-building everywhere.

Source: The Irish Times March 12, 2026 23:37 UTC