Re: Re: Using “exemption limits’ despite planning granted

@onq wrote:

Well you know that’s very interesting – I hadn’t thought of it like that.

Guy down the road constructed a “shed” which then miraculously sprouted four double rooflights and he started to use it as a gym, which implies it is a habitable space.

My reading of the section I quoted is that you can use it for whatever you like within the laws of the land if it supports residential use, but it cannot become habitable space, unless the conversion itself was exempted.

The only thing that readily converts is a “garage”, which IIRC can be detached from the main house.

Have you a reference for the Donegal case?
I saw it on the news but cannot seem to google it

TIA

ONQ.

I think “any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the house” would include recreational uses, including a gym, or a teenagers games room. I mean, if you want to play table tennis or lift weights in the garage, common sense dictates that you should be able to do so without applying for planning permission. The rooflights you mention are not exempted by section 4, however, as these are works, and not use. They may of course by exempted under other sections, or under the regs.

I would agree with your interpretation, that “any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the house” means things that support and enhance the residental use, rather than actual residential space.

I don’t have a link to the Donegal case, it may still be on RTE’s website.