Galway city and suburbs
Planning applications inside the Galway city and suburbs, Co. Galway settlement, as recorded on the statutory register. The area is the CSO’s Census 2022 urban boundary.
What the data shows
Generated from this page’s figuresFor Galway city and suburbs, there are 4082 total applications on the register, with recent lodgements showing 347 applications in 2023, 348 in 2024, and 365 in 2025. Out of 3749 applications decided since 2016, 3236 were granted, 513 were refused, and 0 were part-granted, resulting in an 86% grant rate. The most common development types in the area are Extension at 25%, Retention at 19%, New dwelling at 13%, and Alterations at 12%. This is information, not legal advice.
An automated reading of the figures on this page. Every statement reflects the register data shown above; it is not advice or a prediction.
- 4,082
- inside the settlement boundary
- Galway
- CSO Census 2022
Decisions
Grant rate
86%
Also on the register, outside the rate: No decision recorded 333
Historical outcomes from the statutory register. Not a prediction for any individual application.
Show the numbers
| Outcome | Applications |
|---|---|
| Granted | 3,236 |
| Refused | 513 |
| No decision recorded | 333 |
What’s being applied for
Types are read from each application's description; the most common are shown.
Show the numbers
| Type | Applications | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Extension | 1,023 | 25% |
| Retention | 766 | 19% |
| New dwelling | 534 | 13% |
| Alterations | 507 | 12% |
| Change of use | 372 | 9% |
| Commercial | 341 | 8% |
Grant rate by type of development
| Type | Granted | Decided | Nationally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extension | 93% | 906 | 95% |
| Retention | 82% | 658 | 90% |
| New dwelling | 81% | 457 | 81% |
| Alterations | 91% | 439 | 92% |
| Change of use | 82% | 327 | 88% |
| Commercial | 87% | 293 | 88% |
| Apartments | 76% | 138 | 71% |
| Infrastructure | 87% | 115 | 91% |
| Housing estate | 78% | 85 | 78% |
| Demolition | 89% | 36 | 86% |
| Industrial | 100% | 33 | 93% |
“Decided” counts applications granted, refused or part-granted — withdrawn and invalid applications are excluded.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
24%
78 of 328 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 Withdrawn and invalid appeals are excluded, because nothing was decided.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.
Activity
Applications lodged
Show the numbers
| Year | Applications |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 377 |
| 2017 | 373 |
| 2018 | 445 |
| 2019 | 405 |
| 2020 | 374 |
| 2021 | 413 |
| 2022 | 350 |
| 2023 | 347 |
| 2024 | 348 |
| 2025 | 365 |
Grant rate by year
Show the numbers
| Year | Decided | Granted | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 243 | 216 | 89% |
| 2017 | 343 | 304 | 89% |
| 2018 | 410 | 362 | 88% |
| 2019 | 392 | 343 | 88% |
| 2020 | 344 | 301 | 88% |
| 2021 | 406 | 341 | 84% |
| 2022 | 333 | 282 | 85% |
| 2023 | 314 | 256 | 82% |
| 2024 | 347 | 302 | 87% |
| 2025 | 338 | 290 | 86% |
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Source the statutory planning registers; settlement boundary: CSO Census 2022 urban areas (Tailte Éireann) · Licence Irish Public Sector Data, CC BY 4.0Always confirm against the relevant authority’s official register.