A dispute has emerged over a house on Old Cabra Road that Dublin City Council recently authorised for use as social care accommodation, after the council refused to confirm it could house young people seeking international protection. The question now is whether the building’s lawful use was settled earlier this year.
The case has gone to An Coimisiún Pleanála after the council ruled that No. 63 Old Cabra Road could not automatically move from social care accommodation to housing for international protection applicants.
The property is a two- to three-storey dwelling with front parking and a rear garden. It has been used in different residential forms since the 1970s, including guesthouse conversions, flats and later a return to a single dwelling.
In May, the council issued a Section 5 declaration saying the house could lawfully operate as social care accommodation for six residents with two carers.
A Section 5 is a statutory query asking the council to confirm whether a particular use counts as development under planning law.
It said using the dwelling to provide a residence for people with intellectual or physical disabilities or mental illness was an exempted development under Class 14(f).
A second application was lodged in June asking the council to confirm whether the same building could instead accommodate young people seeking international protection. That request was refused.
The council said the earlier Class 14(f) use had not been sufficiently established and that any move to Class 14(h) would be a material change needing planning permission.
The owners, Starstone Property Group, a Meath-registered holding company set up in 2024, have appealed. They say the May declaration is already fixed in law because it was valid, unchallenged and remains in force.
Their submission relies on the Court of Appeal’s Narconon judgment, which held that a Section 5 declaration becomes conclusive once issued unless challenged by judicial review.
Starstone also submitted a letter from Care Ireland, a Tusla-approved provider. It says the property forms part of its accommodation portfolio and that it holds a long-term tenancy to provide residential care for young people in Tusla’s care.
Starstone says no physical works are proposed, the residential character stays the same, and the change in occupant type does not alter traffic, amenity, or operations.
They point to similar Section 5 decisions at Glenarm Avenue and Kincora Grove, both on the north side of the city, where the council accepted that moving from Class 14(f) to Class 14(h) was not a material change.
The matter now rests with An Coimisiún Pleanála. It must decide whether the property’s established use is already settled and whether accommodating international protection applicants falls within the exempted development provisions of Class