What happens when planning permission expires in Ireland?

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, a grant of planning permission normally has a life of five years from the date it becomes effective, unless the decision specifies a different period. If the development authorised by the permission has not been completed within that period, the permission lapses automatically - there is no grace period and no automatic renewal, so unfinished works after the five years technically become unauthorised development if continued.

Once lapsed, the only ways to proceed are to apply for an extension of duration under section 42 before the original permission expires (which is only possible while the permission is still live and only where specific statutory conditions, such as substantial works already carried out, are met), or to submit an entirely new planning application once the old one has lapsed. A fresh application is assessed against the local development plan and any planning guidelines in force at that time, which may differ from - and be more restrictive than - the policy that applied when the original permission was granted.

This matters particularly for larger or multi-phase projects, and for sites where zoning, flood risk designation, or other planning constraints may have changed in the intervening years. A site that was straightforward to get permission for five years ago could face a much harder assessment on a fresh application if, for example, it has since been reclassified as being at flood risk or the development plan's zoning objectives have changed.