One-off housing

Other than being located outside any town or village, a typical one-off house built in the last twenty years is likely to be a bungalow of concrete block construction 1,500–2,500 square feet in floor area, with a rectangular footprint and a pitched roof.

[6] Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has supported the view that one-off housing is a continuation of the traditional land use patterns in Ireland for millennia.

[9] Because the residents of one-off housing are more car-dependent than those living in towns and villages, organisations such as An Taisce have stated that these groups are more likely to suffer from obesity.

[10] Senator Mary Henry has pointed out that one-off houses are often built without any footpath connection to a local town, thus discouraging walking.

[12][13] By their dispersed nature, one-off houses are built further away from commercial, utility, social and emergency services than urban dwellings.

By contrast, supporters of one-off housing speculate that subsidies may be paid by rural taxpayers whenever large infrastructure projects are constructed by the state in Dublin from central exchequer funds.

It has been argued by Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D., Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, that the marginal cost of supplying services to new one-off houses is low.

They argue that farmers have become reliant on housing as a cash crop,[21] while one-off builders are motivated by the capital gains they expect to make on their property.

By contrast, advocates of one-off housing may characterise those who would limit this type of development as Dublin 4 urbanites[22] motivated by a desire to maintain the hegemony of cities and put country people in their place.

[23] In 2005, the Irish government (a coalition between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats) introduced policy guidelines that detailed the circumstances under which one-off housing should be promoted.

[28] Frank McDonald, a journalist with The Irish Times coined the term 'Bungalow Blitz' in a series of articles condemning one-off housing in the 1980s.

This was a pun on the title of a popular book named 'Bungalow Bliss' by Jack Fitzsimons, that contained architectural plans for bungalows intended to be used by those building their own homes.

[30] The Stop Bungalow Chaos[31] Campaign Group also actively lobbies against the current status quo policies favouring the proliferation of one-off housing in Ireland.