Planning register

Cork County planning applications

Every application lodged with Cork County Council, as recorded on the statutory planning register.

Planning guidance for Cork County →The development plan, page by page →

What the data shows

Generated from this page’s figures

Cork County Council has 141619 total applications on the register, with an 86% grant rate across 101820 applications granted, refused or part-granted since 1999, representing 87241 granted, 14327 refused, and 252 part-granted. The most common development types are New dwelling at 32%, Extension at 20%, Retention at 12%, and Agricultural at 9%. Applications lodged recently were 3393 in 2023, 4727 in 2024, and 5759 in 2025. Recorded zoning designations include Conservation, amenity or buffer space, corridor/belt, landscape at 19%, New/proposed residential at 12%, and Active open space at 10%.

An automated reading of the figures on this page. Every statement reflects the register data shown above; it is not advice or a prediction.

Applications: 141,619; every year on the register
Decided: 101,931; with a decision date recorded
Lodged, last 12 months: 3,310; rolling, to today

Decisions

Grant rate

Share of 101,820 decided applications, since 1999

86%granted

Granted87,241 · 86%Part granted, part refused252 · <1%Refused14,327 · 14%

Also on the register, outside the rate: Withdrawn 6 · Invalid 7 · No decision recorded 39,786

Historical outcomes from the statutory register. Not a prediction for any individual application.

Show the numbers

Outcome	Applications
Granted	87,241
Refused	14,327
Part granted, part refused	252
Withdrawn	6
Invalid	7
No decision recorded	39,786

What’s being applied for

Share of 120,216 applications with a recognised type

New dwelling32%
Extension20%
Retention12%
Agricultural9%
Alterations5%
Commercial5%

Types are read from each application's description; the most common are shown.

Show the numbers

Type	Applications	Share
New dwelling	38,277	32%
Extension	24,548	20%
Retention	14,738	12%
Agricultural	10,220	9%
Alterations	6,089	5%
Commercial	5,917	5%

Grant rate by type of development

How each kind of application has been decided in Cork County Council, 2016–2026.

Type	Granted	Decided	Nationally
New dwelling	85%	9,393	81%
Extension	97%	5,838	95%
Retention	94%	4,123	90%
Agricultural	95%	2,606	94%
Alterations	95%	1,363	92%
Infrastructure	94%	1,182	91%
Commercial	90%	1,121	88%
Change of use	89%	1,027	88%
Housing estate	84%	949	78%
Industrial	96%	555	93%
Other	96%	337	88%
Energy	90%	290	90%
Apartments	73%	238	71%
Demolition	91%	212	86%

“Decided” counts applications granted, refused or part-granted — withdrawn and invalid applications are excluded. Types with fewer than 30 decided applications are not listed, because a rate over a handful of applications would not mean anything.

Appeals

Appeals to An Bord Pleanála

29%

of 3,830 decided appeals changed the council’s decision, 1999–2026.

Refusals granted on appeal: 21% of 1,196
Permissions refused on appeal: 32% of 2,634
Decision upheld: 2,236
Upheld, conditions varied: 495
Part granted, part refused: 26

1,099 of 3,830 decided appeals reversed the council either way. Withdrawn and invalid appeals are excluded, because nothing was decided. Appeals are self-selected — only decisions someone chose to challenge appear here — so this is a record of appealed cases, not a measure of the council’s decisions overall.

Appeal outcomes by development type

How often An Bord Pleanála changed the council’s decision in Cork County Council, by the kind of development appealed.

Development type	Changed on appeal	Nationally	Refusals granted	Permissions refused
New dwelling	37% of 950	31%	16% of 412	53% of 538
Housing estate	30% of 488	27%	30% of 99	30% of 389
Retention	21% of 359	22%	33% of 94	17% of 265
Commercial	28% of 326	24%	19% of 73	30% of 253
Extension	17% of 238	19%	32% of 47	14% of 191
Infrastructure	23% of 217	27%	34% of 65	18% of 152
Change of use	18% of 173	24%	27% of 52	15% of 121
Apartments	29% of 126	25%	22% of 36	31% of 90
Industrial	16% of 109	21%	—	16% of 92
Agricultural	16% of 108	18%	—	19% of 91
Energy	20% of 98	27%	—	17% of 72
Alterations	22% of 79	23%	—	19% of 52
Other	28% of 39	22%	—	29% of 31

“Changed on appeal” counts decided appeals where the Board reached a different answer to the council, in either direction. “Refusals granted” is the share of appeals against a refusal that won permission; “Permissions refused” is the reverse. A dash means fewer than 30 cases, which is too few to state a rate. Withdrawn and invalid appeals are excluded because nothing was decided, and appeals split across parts of a development are counted but kept out of every rate. Appeals are self-selected — only decisions someone chose to challenge appear here.

How long appeals take

22 weeks

median, for appeals from Cork County Council decided since October 2024 (136 appeals). Nationally over the same period: 18 weeks across 3,593 appeals.

National median, by year the appeal was decided

201416 weeks60
201515 weeks484
201616 weeks690
201719 weeks1,130
201823 weeks1,623
201917 weeks1,860
202018 weeks1,594
202119 weeks1,604
202227 weeks1,080
202361 weeks1,708
202443 weeks2,331
202518 weeks2,010
202617 weeks1,201

Measured from the date the appeal was lodged to the date An Bord Pleanála decided it, for appeals where the register records both. The median peaked at 61 weeks for appeals decided in 2023 and stood at 17 weeks in 2026. Appeals are decided by An Bord Pleanála, not by the council, so these figures describe the Board’s timelines for cases from this area — they are not a measure of how quickly the council works. A small number of records with a decision dated before the lodgement, or more than three years after it, are excluded.

Activity

Applications lodged

Per year, 2016–2025

Show the numbers

Year	Applications
2016	4,133
2017	4,304
2018	4,282
2019	3,930
2020	3,796
2021	4,440
2022	3,697
2023	3,393
2024	4,727
2025	5,759

Grant rate by year

Share of decided applications granted, by year of decision

Show the numbers

Year	Decided	Granted	Grant rate
2016	2,912	2,717	93%
2017	2,940	2,657	90%
2018	3,024	2,758	91%
2019	2,967	2,686	91%
2020	2,569	2,327	91%
2021	3,098	2,852	92%
2022	2,703	2,444	90%
2023	2,501	2,256	90%
2024	2,612	2,345	90%
2025	4,378	4,003	91%

Zoning

Zoning designations

Share of zoned areas in the current development plan, by zone type

Conservation, amenity or buffer space, corridor/belt, landscape19%
New/proposed residential12%
Active open space 10%
Existing residential9%
Industrial, enterprise, employment 7%
Mixed/general community services/facilities uses6%

Counted by zoned area, not by hectare. Zoning context, not a compliance assessment. View the plan.

Show the numbers

Zone type	Zoned areas	Share
Conservation, amenity or buffer space, corridor/belt, landscape	296	19%
New/proposed residential	183	12%
Active open space	155	10%
Existing residential	137	9%
Industrial, enterprise, employment	112	7%
Mixed/general community services/facilities uses	99	6%

Towns in Cork County

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The figures on this page are open to everyone. The Cork County applications themselves — what was proposed, decided, and the council's documents and conditions — need a free account.