House design guide
What Fingal wants your home to look like
Fingal County Council requires residential designs to respect the existing scale, building lines, and character of their neighborhoods. Home extensions must protect the privacy and daylight of neighbors, typically requiring a 22-meter gap between opposing rear windows and matching external materials. In rural areas, new homes should be clustered near existing family structures, feature simple traditional shapes and natural materials, and avoid breaking the skyline.
Accepted house types & forms
What they want to see
Encouraged by the guide
Re-use and adaptation of existing buildings(502, 542, 639)
Renovating and extending existing buildings is encouraged as the first option over demolition to minimise waste, carbon footprint, and resource consumption.
Universal design and future adaptability(500, 513)
Homes should be designed to accommodate the changing needs of a family over time, allowing for easy internal alteration and flexibility.
Simple forms and traditional materials in rural areas(540-541)
New rural houses are encouraged to be simple in shape with narrow spans and pitches, utilizing materials traditionally found in Fingal such as stone, timber, slate, iron, and lime.
Matching finishes for extensions(532)
External finishes of side, rear, and ground-floor extensions should generally match or complement the existing dwelling house.
Sharing vehicular entrances in the countryside(541)
Sharing existing entrances, avenues, and driveways is encouraged for new rural homes to prevent a clutter of access points along public roads.
What gets refused
Discouraged by the guide
Gated communities(529)
The development of gated communities is strictly prohibited because they divide communities and block public connection and permeability.
Cosmetic embellishments on rural dwellings(540)
Ornamental features such as mock classical columns, Spanish arches, mock-Tudor detailing, and balustrades should be avoided.
Breaking the skyline or waterline(540)
New rural buildings must respect their landscape context and are not permitted to break the skyline or waterline as seen from main roads or vantage points.
Narrow garden strips(528)
Narrow side strips of open space are excluded from the official private open space garden calculations.
Excessive front porches and extensions(532)
Front porches and extensions must not be so excessively scaled or projected that they dominate the front look of the house.
Dormer windows on front roof slopes in ACAs(610)
Within Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs), inserting dormers or rooflights on the front-facing roof slope is discouraged; they should be placed on hidden rear pitches.
Brick wall finishes in rural Fingal(540)
Brick was not historically common for wall finishes in Fingal and should generally be avoided for new rural home exteriors.
Garden subdivision for family flats(534)
Subdivision of the main house's garden is not permitted when building a family flat extension.
Kitchen or toilet facilities in garden rooms(534)
Garden rooms must remain modest, ancillary spaces (like playrooms or home offices) and must not be fitted with kitchens or toilet facilities.
Materials & finishes
- Traditional rural materials such as stone, timber, slate, iron, and lime (Page 540)
- Avoid brick for rural wall finishes as it is not historically common in Fingal (Page 540)
- Muted colours for facades to achieve visual continuity in business and industrial areas (Page 566)
- Heavy-duty cotton with painted metal or timber hardware for traditional awnings/canopies (Page 613)
- Avoid plastic for canopies/blinds in Architectural Conservation Areas (Page 613)
- External finishes of side, rear, and ground-floor extensions must match or complement the existing house (Page 532)
Roofs & form
- Simple design forms and roof designs with narrow spans and pitches/profiles are preferred for rural dwellings (Page 541)
- Dormer extensions should be set back from eaves, gables, and party boundaries, and set down from the existing ridge level (Page 533)
- Dormers and rooflights in ACAs should be placed on hidden pitches and generally not on the front roof slope (Page 610)
- Set-back of side extension roof profiles and ridges may be required to protect the streetscape and avoid a terracing effect (Page 532)
Siting & landscape
- A minimum 22-metre separation distance between directly opposing rear first-floor windows must be observed, resulting in a minimum rear garden depth of 11 metres (Page 519, 527)
- A separation distance of at least 2.3 metres must be provided between side walls of detached, semi-detached, and end-of-terrace houses (Page 527)
- Private open space of at least 60 sq m for houses with 3 bedrooms or less, and 75 sq m for houses with 4 or more bedrooms, located behind the front building line (Page 528)
- Infill and corner garden site proposals must be compatible with adjoining structures' scale, massing, building lines, and roof profiles (Page 531)
- Prohibit gated communities to support permeability and connected neighborhoods (Page 529)
- Rural dwellings should be clustered near the family home/existing farm buildings where possible (Page 539, 540)
- Do not block scenic views, break the skyline, or waterline from vantage points in rural areas (Page 540)
- Retain existing mature trees, hedgerows, and stone boundaries (Page 540-541)
- Ensure bin storage is not located immediately adjacent to the front door or ground floor window unless adequately screened (Page 530)