Planning Permission Ireland

House design guide

What Tipperary wants your home to look like

Tipperary County Council wants rural homes to blend naturally with the countryside by using simple, narrow rectangular designs and matching the natural slopes of the landscape. Homebuilders should avoid fussy decorative details, suburban patterns, and artificial materials in favor of energy-efficient layouts and natural finishes.

Accepted house types & forms

narrow rectangular plan formtraditional linear plan formsingle-storey houses of simple formdormer houses with traditional eaves dormerstwo-storey houses of appropriate scalecontemporary passive houses

What they want to see

Encouraged by the guide

  • Simple and narrow rectangular plans(Page 25)

    Promotes rectangular, narrow plan forms that adapt well to slopes and maximize passive solar gain.

  • Passive solar gain and energy efficiency(Page 16)

    Orient rooms like the kitchen and living areas to face south to naturally absorb and store solar heat.

  • Traditional eaves dormers(Page 30)

    Traditional eaves dormers are the preferred dormer style, designed simply to match the house's style.

  • Sympathetic restoration of derelict buildings(Page 35)

    Sympathetic restoration of structurally sound and reasonably intact derelict houses is encouraged as an alternative to new builds.

  • Natural and locally available materials(Page 41)

    The use of natural materials like slate, timber, and natural stone is highly encouraged.

What gets refused

Discouraged by the guide

  • Exposed hilltop development(Page 9)

    Avoid choosing sites on exposed hilltops or ridgelines that lack natural shelter or screening.

  • Ribbon development(Page 10)

    Avoid contributing to existing linear roadside development, defined as 5 or more houses along any one side of a 250m stretch of road.

  • Excessive cut and fill on slopes(Page 15)

    Avoid over-excavating and creating artificial plateaus on sloped land. The house should adapt to the natural contours.

  • Suburban and complicated designs(Page 25)

    Avoid boxy plans, shallow pitched roofs, unusual window shapes, and overuse of artificial materials.

  • Flashy past architectural details(Page 28)

    Avoid features like medieval leaded lights, mock Georgian porticos, ornamental barge boards, and applied quoins.

  • Building close to farmyards(Page 24)

    Avoid building near active or disused farmyards due to conflicting farm operations, machinery noise, and smells.

Materials & finishes

  • Painted plaster or plaster dash finish
  • Natural stone (used sparingly for contrast)
  • Contemporary metals like copper and zinc
  • Natural slate
  • Flat dark tiles
  • Timber, glass, and painted blockwork

Roofs & form

  • Simple and consistent pitched roof forms
  • Narrow rectangular plan shapes
  • Traditional eaves dormers
  • Neat eaves and consistent roof slopes
  • Subservient extensions in scale with the main building

Siting & landscape

  • Nestle buildings into natural folds of the landscape
  • Select naturally-occurring shelves or the gentlest part of a slope to minimise earth moving
  • Retain existing trees, hedgerows, and boundaries
  • Set houses back from the public road based on size
  • Driveways should be indirect, curving subtly with natural contours
  • Use simple entrance splayed designs with native planting and simple gates

Auto-generated summary of Volume 3 Rural Housing Design Guide — read the official source ↗. Last updated 22 June 2026.

Based on: Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 2, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 9, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 10, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 15, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 16, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 20, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 24, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 25, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 28, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 30, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 35, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 40, Volume 3, Appendix 4, Page 41.

For information only — not legal or planning advice. Always confirm requirements with Tipperary County Council and a qualified professional before relying on them.