57% of applications for retention permission in the county were granted over the last two years.
A planning retention application is a formal request to a local authority to retain a building without previously having been granted the required permission.
The report, carried out by and published in today's Irish Independent, states that nationwide over 11,000 applications of planning retention have been made to local authorities, of which 55% were granted.
Kerry is slightly above the national average, with 610 applications made to Kerry County Council, 348 of which were granted.
50 applications were refused, while 212 were deemed invalid, were withdrawn or as of yet are undecided.
One such rejected application mentioned in the report was that of a pensioner in Scartaglen, who was denied her request to retain a log cabin she had built, on the basis that
it would “be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.
A spokesperson from the Department of Housing has stated that a review of current exempted development regulations is in its final stages, following a public consultation in August of last year.
