Buying a New-Build Apartment in 2026/27

Buying a new-build apartment off-plan is, for many of our clients, the only realistic way into the property market in Dublin, Cork, and other urban areas. You choose your unit from a brochure, you sign a contract before the walls go up, and you wait for the keys. It is a leap of faith at the best of times, and one that depends heavily on the planning permission that underpins the development.

Recent changes in Irish planning law mean that the apartment you take delivery of in 2026 or 2027 may not look exactly like the one in the original brochure. The Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2025, which came into force on 1 August 2025, introduced a fast-track procedure that allows developers to modify the internal layout of permitted residential schemes without going back for a fresh planning permission. At McCarthy + Co Solicitors LLP, we are now routinely advising buyers on what this means in practice, what protections remain in place, and what to look out for in your contract.

What the 2025 Act changed

The 2025 Act is a targeted piece of legislation that amends both the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Planning and Development Act 2024. Its stated purpose is to accelerate housing delivery by maximising the use of planning permissions that have already been granted. The Department of Housing has set out the broader policy backdrop in its commencement announcement of 1 August 2025.

Three changes matter for new-build buyers in particular:

• A one-off opportunity for developers to extend the duration of an uncommenced housing permission by up to three years (a new section 42(1A) of the 2000 Act).
• A reframed mechanism allowing time spent in judicial review proceedings to be discounted from the life of a planning permission, including, in some cases, retrospectively.
• A new fast-track “Permitted Modification” procedure for residential developments, set out in a new section 44B of the 2000 Act. This is the change that most directly affects what a new-build apartment will look like on completion.

The new Section 44B “Permitted Modification” procedure

Section 44B, inserted into the 2000 Act by section 29 of the 2025 Act, allows the holder of a planning permission for a residential development to apply to the local planning authority for a certificate confirming that a proposed modification of the permitted scheme is permitted. A development built in line with such a certificate is, in law, not unauthorised development.

The procedure is designed to dovetail with the new Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2025, published by the Department of Housing. Those guidelines relax a number of the design standards that previously applied to apartment schemes, for example, by permitting smaller floor areas, reduced ceiling heights in certain situations, and a different mix of unit sizes. The intention is to allow more apartments to be built within the same overall envelope.

Modifications that may be certified under section 44B include changes to:

• The mix of apartment classes within a development (for example, the balance between studios, one-bed, two-bed, and three-bed units).
• The proportion of each class of apartment.
• Internal floor areas of individual apartments.
• Ceiling heights, window provision, lift and stairway arrangements.
• Associated works such as footpaths, boundaries, gardens, and balconies, where these are necessary to give effect to the internal changes.

Several important limits apply. A certificate cannot be issued where the development has already commenced on site, where an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive is required, or where the change would breach the dwelling number limits set in a Strategic Development Zone planning scheme. The planning authority must decide on an application within eight weeks, or within four weeks of receiving any further information requested. The decision must be published, but, unusually for Irish planning law, there is no right of appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála. The only route of challenge is judicial review in the High Court.

The procedure is also time-limited. Applications must be made within two years of the enactment of the 2025 Act, which means the window closes in July 2027. For the next 12 to 18 months, therefore, buyers should expect to see a meaningful number of existing apartment permissions being modified under section 44B.

Why this is an important consideration when you are buying off-plan

Buying off-plan, as we explain on our new build purchases page, is fundamentally different from buying a second-hand home. You are signing two contracts (a Contract for Sale of the site and a Building Agreement under which the developer will build out the unit) on the strength of plans and specifications rather than a finished product. The version of the planning permission that was in force when the brochure was printed may not be the version under which your apartment is ultimately constructed.

A developer who has obtained a section 44B certificate may, perfectly lawfully:

• Build a slightly smaller apartment than the floor area shown in the original brochure, provided it complies with the minimum standards in the Apartment Guidelines 2025.
• Change the mix of units within the block, so that the one-bed apartment you reserved sits within a scheme that has more studios and fewer family-sized units than originally proposed.
• Adjust window provision, ceiling heights, or lift access, again within the limits of the 2025 Guidelines.
• Reconfigure shared external elements such as balconies, gardens, and footpaths, where these are necessary to give effect to the internal changes.

None of this means that buyers are without protection. The unit you are buying is still defined by the Contract for Sale, the Building Agreement, and the plans and specifications attached to those documents. What it does mean is that the legal documentation, together with the questions your solicitor asks, needs to keep pace with the new procedure.

What your solicitor will check

At McCarthy + Co, our conveyancing team treats the planning paperwork on a new-build purchase as one of the most important parts of the due diligence process. Under the new framework, that work now includes:

• Identifying the underlying planning permission, including the original grant, any extensions of duration, any judicial review history, and any section 44B “Permitted Modification” certificate that has been issued by the local authority.
• Carrying out a planning search on the relevant local authority planning register to confirm the position and to verify that the development has not commenced before any certificate was granted (an absolute requirement under section 44B).
• Reviewing the plans and specifications annexed to the Building Agreement against the most recent version of the permission, and querying any discrepancies in floor area, ceiling height, window provision, or unit mix.
• Checking that the Building Agreement contains appropriate warranties about the unit being built in accordance with the plans and specifications, and considering the position if a section 44B certificate is later obtained after contracts have been signed.
• Confirming that a Certificate of Compliance on Completion will be lodged by the Assigned Certifier under the Building Control Regulations, and that the Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate reflects the apartment as actually constructed.

Practical points to raise with your developer or estate agent

The Office of the Planning Regulator and Citizens Information both publish helpful general guidance on the planning system, but neither is a substitute for asking the right questions before you commit. We recommend that prospective buyers, ideally through their solicitor, ask:

• Which planning permission is the development being built under, and has it been extended under section 42(1A) of the 2000 Act?
• Has the developer applied for, or does it intend to apply for, a section 44B “Permitted Modification” certificate in respect of this scheme?
• If a certificate has been granted, what specific changes does it cover, and how does the apartment being offered compare with the original permission?
• Are the plans and specifications attached to the Building Agreement the most up-to-date version, and do they reflect any certified modifications?
• What contractual protection is offered if the developer changes the layout, mix, or specification of the unit between exchange and completion?

What happens if the apartment changes after you sign

In most well-drafted Building Agreements, the developer reserves a degree of flexibility to make minor changes to plans, specifications, and finishes. Whether a change introduced by way of a section 44B certificate is a “minor” change in the legal sense will depend on the wording of the specific contract and the nature of the modification.

Where a change is material (for example, a meaningful reduction in floor area, the loss of a window, or a significant change to common areas), a buyer may, depending on the contract, be entitled to seek a price adjustment, to require the work to be carried out in line with the original plans, or in some cases to rescind the contract and recover the deposit. The Law Society of Ireland Conditions of Sale and the special conditions negotiated by your solicitor are critical here. We strongly advise that no buyer signs a new-build contract without those clauses being reviewed in detail.

How the wider 2025 Act fits in

The section 44B procedure is only one element of the 2025 Act, and it sits alongside the new framework introduced by the Planning and Development Act 2024 (which is being commenced on a phased basis) and the continuing provisions of the 2000 Act. I have written separately about the broader reform in my earlier post on the Planning and Development Act 2024. Taken together, these reforms are aimed at addressing the chronic shortfall in housing supply identified in the National Planning Framework, but they also add new layers of paperwork that buyers and their solicitors need to navigate carefully.

Need legal assistance with a new-build apartment purchase?

Buying a new-build apartment is one of the largest financial commitments most people ever make, and the legal framework around it is becoming more complex rather than less. At McCarthy + Co, our conveyancing team has extensive experience guiding buyers through new-build and off-plan purchases, including the planning and building compliance issues that arise under the 2025 Act. If you are considering a new-build apartment or are already in discussions with a developer, please visit our new build purchases page or arrange a consultation through our quick and confidential online form. We will be happy to review the documentation with you and explain, in plain English, exactly what you are signing up to.