Planning Alerts Ireland: Stay Ahead of Local Development

Planning alerts are automated notifications that tell you when new planning activity is registered near locations that matter to you. Instead of manually checking your local council’s planning register, an alerts service monitors the data for you and notifies you when something relevant appears.

If you own or manage property, live near a site that could be developed, or work in construction, architecture, surveying or property services, planning alerts give you timely, actionable information that would otherwise be easy to miss.

Types of Planning Alerts

1. Planning Application Alerts

Planning application alerts notify you when a new planning application is submitted to your local authority for land or property near your chosen location.

This is the earliest point at which you can:

• Track a proposed development
• Review the planning file
• Decide whether to make a formal observation or objection within the statutory period

Applications can range from:

• Small domestic extensions
• Changes to access or parking
• Large residential schemes
• Commercial or industrial developments that may affect amenity, traffic, access or property values

Early notification maximises the time you have to respond.

2. Planning Decision Alerts

Once an application has been decided, planning decision alerts keep you informed of the outcome. These alerts can include:

• Grants of permission (with or without conditions)
• Refusals of permission
• Requests for further information (which pause the statutory decision clock)
• Appeals lodged with An Bord Pleanála
• Final determinations issued by An Bord Pleanála

If you have already submitted an observation, or are simply monitoring a nearby proposal, decision alerts remove the need for repeated manual checks of the council register.

3. Commencement Notice Alerts

A commencement notice must be lodged with the relevant Building Control Authority at least two weeks before construction begins on any project that requires planning permission. This is a statutory requirement under the Building Control Act 1990.

For construction-related businesses, commencement notices are commercially valuable because they indicate when a project is about to start on site.

Commencement notice alerts help you:

• Identify projects that are about to break ground
• Time your sales and business development activity
• Target developers, main contractors and project teams when they are actively procuring

These alerts are particularly relevant if you supply:

• Groundworks, scaffolding, concrete, steel, joinery
• Insulation, roofing, windows, M&E services
• Professional services such as engineering, surveying or project management

4. Property Sale Alerts

Property sale alerts are based on data from the Residential Property Price Register, maintained by the Revenue Commissioners. This register records all residential property sales in Ireland since January 2010.

A property sale alert notifies you when a sale is registered for a property or area you are tracking.

These alerts are especially useful for:

• Solicitors and conveyancers monitoring transactions
• Estate agents tracking local market activity
• Mortgage brokers following completions in target areas
• Property investors monitoring specific streets, estates or towns

They provide an ongoing feed of market intelligence without repeated manual searches.

Who Uses Planning Alerts in Ireland?

Planning alerts are used by a wide range of individuals and organisations:

Homeowners and Residents

• Stay informed about proposed developments near your home
• Get early notice of neighbouring extensions, new access roads, infill schemes or larger developments
• Ensure you have time to review files and make observations within the statutory four-week period

Architects, Planning Consultants and Agents

• Monitor competitor applications and local development trends
• Track approval patterns for specific development types or locations
• Identify active or upcoming projects where your professional services may be relevant

Construction Firms and Trade Suppliers

• Use commencement notice alerts to identify projects about to start on site
• Build a pipeline of live opportunities across multiple counties
• Target projects that match your products or services at the right time

Solicitors and Conveyancers

• Support due diligence for clients buying or selling property
• Check for pending or recent planning applications near a property
• Automate what is often a manual, time-consuming search process