Clare planning permission: how often it is granted, and how long it takes
In the 12 months to 3 November 2026, Clare decided 1,038 planning applications: 983 were granted (95%) and 55 were refused. Half of the decisions came within 54 days, and nine in ten within 180 days.
The figures
- Granted
- 95%about 1 in 19 refused 75%100%
- Median wait for a decision
- 54 days 45105 days
- Nine in ten decided within
- 180 days 110260 days
- Asked for more information
- 27%
- Decisions in the 12 months
- 1,038grants and refusals; invalid, withdrawn and other outcomes left out
- One-off houses
- 582 decisions, 95% granted
- Last application in the register
- 29 October 2026
Applications filed each year
- 20191,023
- 2020993
- 20211,384
- 20221,138
- 20231,227
- 20241,129
- 20251,216
- 2026990
The hatched bar is a part year: the register's last application for Clare was received on 29 October 2026.
How Clare compares with the other councils
Clare grants more often than most councils. It ranks 4th of 30 on the share of applications granted, 4 points above the median council (90%). A typical decision comes faster than at the median council: 54 days against 55. Nine in ten decisions came within 180 days, against 209 days at the median council.
Requests for further information are less frequent here: the register records one on 27% of all the decisions it records, against 39% for the median council, and decisions are no slower than the median. For the 582 decisions flagged as one-off houses, the share granted (95%) is close to the council's overall figure.
Applications are up. Clare received 1,216 in 2025, 19% more than the 1,023 of 2019. The busiest full year was 2021, with 1,384 applications; 20 of the 31 councils peaked in that year.
What Clare reported for 2025
Clare's return has the lowest number of invalid applications of any council: 66, against a category total of 889 that sits mid-table. Housing dominates, with 728 dwelling applications, while farm buildings (58) and commercial premises (47) are a long way behind. Every one of the 8 categories has at least one entry, a completeness only 7 other councils share, down to 12 civil engineering schemes and 3 under other functional categories. Of 46 refusals, 36 concerned houses and 5 civil engineering works, the joint second-highest civil engineering refusal count after Wexford. Speed is also on Clare's side in the return, with 686 applications decided within 8 weeks, the ninth-highest figure. Clare also stands apart in the register: it flags 582 decisions as one-off houses, more than any other council, so its one-off house figure rests on a broad base.
These figures come from each council's annual return to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: applications received in 2025, decisions to refuse and other measures, published under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. An application that fits several categories is counted in each, so the categories do not add up to a number of applications, and the Department notes that councils may have read its guidance in slightly different ways.
Following an application in Clare
In the national register, Clare applications link to their files on eplanning.ie/ClareCC.
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