Homeowner ‘relieved’ to be granted permission to retain external insulation

A homeowner is “relieved” as South Dublin County Council granted him permission to retain external insulation in spite of his neighbours’ objections.

Clive Ryan from Elmcastle Walk, Kilnamanagh can move on after facing a potential €5,000 fine and imprisonment for five months and told The Echo he is “glad it’s over.”

Availing of a government scheme to improve energy efficiency of homes, the Ryan’s got a €16,000 ‘wrap-around’ insulation for their house in 2018, through Churchfield Home Services.

Six years later, last December, South Dublin County Council issued Mr Ryan with a warning letter saying he needed planning permission for it and that he had until June to “cease and discontinue the use of the insulation to the front facade.”

Adding up to the “stress and frustration” the family lived in, neighbours James McNeil Cheape and Bridget Cheape submitted an objection to Mr Ryan’s third application for retention last month, stating that the wrap-around was trespassing on their property and creating mould on their internal walls.

“There are leaks in their gutters, and water coming from their fascia. I can’t honestly see how insulation causes leaks,” commented Mr Ryan back then.

Just about two weeks before the deadline, on Tuesday, May 13, SDCC decided to grant permission for the retention of Mr Ryan’s external wall insulation.

According to a document shared on the Council website, the permission applies to external wall insulation “on all facades of the dwelling, with indistinguishable rendered finish throughout all facades.”

SDCC said, among conditions for the retention, that the development “shall be retained in accordance with plans, particulars and specifications lodged with the application.”

“The applicant is advised that in the event of encroachment or oversailing of adjoining property, the consent of the adjoining property owner is required,” it added.

“Churchfield will take care of the details, but all I care is that we can keep it,” said Mr Ryan following the good news.

Since his story broke, it raised questions on existing insulation regulations nationwide.

Dublin South-West TD Paul Murphy (PBP) launched an External Wall Insulation Bill to make such works exempt from planning permission and speed up the retrofitting process, considering the benefits of a more energy efficient home.

The Minister for Housing had commented on the matter saying that whether planning permission is required for insulation is “dependent on a number of factors” and has to be evaluated on a “case by case basis,” while new planning regulations are about to be introduced.

South Dublin County Council, a week after the media covered Mr Ryan’s story, released an official guide where they stated that external insulation systems are “generally acceptable to the Planning Authority” as energy efficiency matters more than streetscape.

“I think the process needs to be simplified,” said Mr Ryan, who over this time has always claimed he was “never” informed that he needed to apply for planning permission to insulate his home.