Properties encroaching on ODZ land can now be sold even with building irregularities in line with new rules published in a legal notice on Friday.

To date, a 2016 regularisation scheme allowed property owners to have illegalities approved against the payment of a fee if the property is entirely within the development zone and if the illegal structures were built before the policy was announced. 

But through Friday's legal notice, the policy has been expanded to include properties that partly fall outside development zone (ODZ) areas.  This means that properties that include structures that were illegally built before 2016 can now be easily sold. 

Banks generally do not approve mortgages for properties that include irregular structures.

The Chamber of Architects had sounded the alarm bells when the draft policy was published for public consultation in November.  

It said it was essential to avoid creating regulations that are open to abuse.  

“This scheme encourages a mentality that paying money and asking for forgiveness while still profiting from misdeeds is an acceptable substitute for behaving correctly and complying with statutory requirements,” it had said.

Environmentalists also cried foul in November describing the policy as the PA’s "decision to give an early Christmas gift to law-breaking developers". 

Policies that are supposed to prevent such development from being allowed would be overruled by developers seeking to regularise their illegal developments in exchange for a paltry fine, they warned. 

"This allows developers to put their previously illegal properties on the market since banks would then be in a position to finance agreements when they otherwise would not do so,” they had said.

On Friday, the Planning Authority said that the policy is aimed to regularise “small infringements” such as backyards that infringe on ODZ, which would have been immediately disqualified from regularisation under the 2016 policy. 

Regularisation, the PA said, is not automatic. The development cannot be harming third parties, and citizens can still object to regularisation.  

“When considering an application, decision-makers are, therefore, required to take into consideration privacy distances, safety issues and outlook levels,” the PA said.   

The authority can also impose any conditions it deems necessary such as the execution of specific works within a timeframe. 

The PA said it decided to revise regularisation fees upwards following the November public consultation.  

Fees vary depending on the size and sort of development regularisation. Those for unroofed development at ground level on ODZ land hover between €400 for 25 square metres of ODZ land and €989,000 for anything bigger than 10,000 square metres.  

Fees for roofed structures beneath ground level on ODZ land start at €450 for an area of 25 square metres and can reach €1,161,000 for any area greater than 10,000 square metres. 

Applicants must also pay a €50 administrative fee for every application. Fees generated will be used to fund PA schemes seeking to regenerate towns and villages.