House design guide
What Wexford wants your home to look like
Wexford County Council prioritizes compact development in existing settlements, emphasizing high-quality architectural design, energy efficiency, and the protection of natural and built heritage. New housing must fit the scale and character of the surrounding town, village, or countryside, utilizing appropriate materials, respectful building heights, and sustainable drainage. Building in the open countryside is strictly controlled and limited to individuals with a proven local social or economic need.
Accepted house types & forms
What they want to see
Encouraged by the guide
Universal access and lifetime homes(page 121, Section 4.5.1)
Requires 20% of new residential schemes consisting of five units or more to be designed as lifetime homes, and an access statement must be submitted.
Diverse housing mix(page 137, Section 4.7.5)
For schemes of 25 or more units, the development should provide a specific mix: 25% two-bedroom houses, 30% three-bedroom houses, and 30% four- or five-bedroom houses.
Downsizing for older residents(page 156, Note 4(d))
Older persons wishing to downsize within their local area are encouraged to build fully accessible single-storey homes up to 125m2 in floor area.
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)(page 432, Objective SWM01)
Requires the application of SuDS and nature-based solutions in new development and extension proposals to manage surface water runoff.
Grouping of agricultural buildings(page 264, Section 6.7.6)
New agricultural buildings must be located within or adjacent to existing farm structures to integrate with the rural landscape.
What gets refused
Discouraged by the guide
Ribbon development(page 157, 158, Section 4.9.3)
A strict presumption is applied against ribbon development, defined as more than five houses along any one side of a 250m road stretch.
In-curtilage parking in front gardens(page 189, Section 5.9.3)
The inclusion of in-curtilage parking in front gardens is discouraged as it creates large setbacks and reduces street enclosure, except in limited suburban areas and villages.
Mobile homes as permanent residences(page 168, Section 4.9.7)
Individual mobile homes are not permitted for use as permanent residences, except in limited temporary emergency circumstances or for a maximum of 2 years during construction.
Log cabins with alpine characteristics(page 167, Section 4.9.6)
Pre-fabricated timber homes or log cabins must be simple in form and design and must not exhibit the characteristics of alpine dwellings.
Back-garden log cabins in towns(page 167, Section 4.9.6)
The Council will generally not consider pre-fabricated timber homes or log cabins as appropriate residential units in the back gardens of existing houses in towns and villages.
Replacing intact vernacular structures(page 161, Table 4.7)
The Council will protect the existing vernacular building stock and will not consider the replacement of habitable or substantially intact vernacular houses.
Converting granny flats to holiday rentals(page 295, Section 7.6.2)
The conversion of previously permitted family member annexes (granny flats) to tourist or holiday accommodation is strictly discouraged.
Materials & finishes
- Welsh slate (required for re-roofing within Architectural Conservation Areas)
- External plaster finish (required for modular units as permanent residences)
- Normal roof slates (required for modular units)
- Render or appropriate cladding (as alternatives to timber external finishes for pre-fabricated homes)
- Timber external finish (only permitted on rural sites that are well-screened and not visually prominent)
- Traditional construction materials (required for restoring historic or vernacular structures)
Roofs & form
- Single-storey design (mandatory for older person downsizing homes)
- Simple form and design with no alpine characteristics (mandatory for pre-fabricated timber homes)
- Retention of original roof profiles, slopes, and chimneys (required in Architectural Conservation Areas)
- Retention of original building ridge heights (highly encouraged for vernacular buildings)
- Traditional proportionate relationships in scale between main buildings and returns
Siting & landscape
- Sequential approach: prioritizing development on infill, backland, and brownfield sites within existing footprints before greenfield expansion
- Riparian buffer zones: a minimum 10-meter buffer zone (up to 50 meters in some cases) must be maintained between watercourses and any new development
- Preservation of natural features: mandatory retention and integration of existing trees, hedgerows, wetlands, and stone walls into the site design
- Woodland density screening: tree planting at a density that provides a woodland setting is required if a timber finish is used on a pre-fabricated home
- Skyline protection: presumption against developments on elevated and exposed sites where they would break the skyline
- Setback from soft shorelines: new developments in established settlements with no coastal protection works must be set back at least 100 meters from the soft shoreline
- Sensitive siting of agricultural buildings: must be located within or adjacent to existing farm structures to utilize natural screening