FAMILIES who live in rented accommodation in the countryside are to be given “special consideration” when applying for planning permission to build one-off houses, even if they are not from the area.

Dick Roche, the environment minister, has said that new guidelines on planning permission for rural housing will cater for rural tenants who can prove they are connected to a community and have lived there for a set number of years, probably five.

Roche, who will publish the guidelines next month, will introduce a similar provision for emigrants who apply to build in the rural areas that they are originally from.

“This is a contentious issue and the guidelines are going to be about finding a balance,” the environment minister said.

“People will have to show they have personal connections to an area and the guidelines will outline what these should be in order for them to get special consideration.

“If you have a family and have been living and renting in a particular area for five or six years; if for example, your children go to school, play with the local clubs and are part of the local community, then you will be given special consideration.”

Roche said he wanted the guidelines to “nudge in the direction of common sense”.

“I am not drawing up guidelines that people are going to be able to exploit.” he said. “The connections are going to have to be real.”

Draft guidelines on rural housing were issued last year by Martin Cullen, the then environment minister, which aimed to allow people with rural links to build houses where they live or are from, subject to good planning.

The guidelines Roche is due to publish will be the final version. The draft text was subject to comment from interested bodies and individuals and did not go into specifics.

Moves to allow for more one-off developments in rural areas have been strongly criticised by An Taisce, the Heritage Council and environmentalists who claim that they cause water contamination, traffic problems, social isolation and decrease road safety.

The guidelines published by Cullen were attacked on the basis that they would lead to a “bungalow blitz”.

However, Roche said his blueprint would allow for “sensitive planning” with the emphasis on “orderly, good-quality development”.

“We will be trying to get the balance right and to ensure the same standards apply around the country.

“As it stands you can’t get planning permission outside a designated area in some parts of the country for love nor money,” he said.

He said he was still coming across cases in which people had been refused permission unfairly. “In one case a young woman wanted to live closer to her family and had good social reasons for this. They had a couple of hundred acres and she applied to build on this. She was refused on the basis that her building would represent sporadic development.

“Yet over the ditch in land in another planning authority area a substantial development was going ahead.

“That’s not reasonable, and that is what the guidelines will change,” he said.

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