Wexford planning permission: how often it is granted, and how long it takes

How Wexford compares with the other councils

Refusals are more common in Wexford than in most councils. It ranks 28th of 30 on the share granted, 7 points below the median council (90%). A typical decision comes faster than at the median council: 54 days against 55. Few files drag on: nine in ten decisions came within 176 days, against 209 days at the median council.

The register records a request for further information on 36% of all the decisions it records, in line with the median council (39%). None of Wexford's decisions in the 12 months is flagged as a one-off house in the register.

The number of applications has held steady: 1,751 in 2019 and 1,606 in 2025. The busiest full year was 2021, with 2,094 applications; 20 of the 31 councils peaked in that year.

What Wexford reported for 2025

Wexford's return leans heavily on two lines that most councils barely use: other functional categories, with 333 applications, and civil engineering, with 74. Both are the highest counts in the country, and Wexford also refused more in each of them than any other council (42 and 6). Dwellings still come first (519), and farm buildings add 81. Refusals came to 161 in all, 98 on houses. The council ruled 343 applications invalid and decided 800 within 8 weeks. Industrial sites (28) and public buildings (19) are mid-sized groups, social-use buildings smaller at 11. Its 5 industrial refusals rank 3rd, and its house refusals 8th. Wexford ranks 7th for applications decided within 8 weeks. Since 2021, its yearly filings have ranged from 1,580 to 1,755, all below that year's 2,094. In the register, only Fingal and Kildare grant a smaller share of their decisions than Wexford.

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 Wexford

In the national register, Wexford applications link to their files on planning.agileapplications.ie/wexford.