Co. Dublin · Fingal County Council area

Garden Rooms & Granny Flats in Malahide, Co. Dublin

Looking for a garden room in Malahide, on the north County Dublin coast? Our 25 m² Garden Studio is a solid ICF garden room, exempt under Class 3 as a garden structure. It is for use with your home — an office, studio, gym or hobby room — and cannot be lived in or slept in without planning permission. If someone in the family needs a place of their own, our granny flats are homes in their own right, built in Malahide and in nearby Swords, Clontarf and Balbriggan.

Check If My Garden Qualifies See fixed prices

Garden room from: €69,000 + VAT
Granny flats from: €93,900 + VAT
On-site build: 5–10 days
Exempt home sizes: 32–45 m²

S.I. No. 340/2026 · Class 3A

Garden rooms and garden homes in Malahide: local planning notes

Four of Fingal’s 33 Architectural Conservation Areas are in Malahide: Malahide Castle Demesne; the Malahide Historic Core, centred on The Diamond and the four streets radiating from it (New Street, Church Road, Dublin Road and The Mall); The Bawn, Parnell Cottages and St Sylvester’s Villas; and The Rise. The Fingal Development Plan 2023–2029 says works that would materially affect an ACA’s special character need planning permission, and under sections 57 and 82 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 works to a protected structure, or to the exterior of a building in an ACA, are exempt only if they would not materially affect its character. A protected structure includes the land within its curtilage. If your house is in one of these areas or is protected, we confirm the position with Fingal County Council first; a section 5 declaration settles it formally.

The plan describes the historic core as a planned estate town, with a geometric centre and a hierarchy of streets and mews lanes, the only one of its kind in Fingal; The Bawn area as rows of mostly single-storey cottages with some two-storey houses; and The Rise as large detached and semi-detached houses on large plots. Its policy is to conserve Malahide’s appearance as an attractive, historic village. For garden rooms, Fingal’s development standards say they must not provide residential accommodation or be fitted out with a kitchen or toilet facilities.

Malahide is served by the Malahide wastewater treatment plant, sized for 27,000 population equivalent, which Uisce Éireann’s April 2026 register shows as green, with a project planned or under way; the plan also records some network capacity issues in the main town area. Class 3A allows no separate connection, so a garden home links into the main house’s existing services.

Malahide is an OPW CFRAM Area for Further Assessment. The proposed Malahide Flood Relief Scheme, still under consideration, may raise coastal defences, add an embankment on the Sluice River and put demountable defences at the railway underpass. Malahide Estuary is a Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. The Malahide and Malahide Demesne townlands are in Dublin Airport noise Zone D in the plan, whose noise controls are written for development that needs permission. Malahide is in the Howth–Malahide local electoral area, served from County Hall in Swords.

Sources for Malahide

Checked 21 October 2026. Plans and designations change; we confirm what applies to your site at the free site visit.

The national conditions, which apply in Malahide too

The national Class 3A exemption applies in Malahide as it does across Ireland. A garden home of 32–45 m² can go ahead without planning permission when all of these hold:

It is a detached home of 32–45 m², measured on the external footprint, in the rear garden of your main house — counted together with any earlier Class 3 garden structures.
At least 25 m² of private garden remains for the main house.
It sits at least 0.6 m from every boundary, and its windows are at least 0.6 m from the boundary they face.
It has its own pedestrian access within the garden, with no new entrance onto the road.
It is no higher than 3 m (4 m with a tiled or slated pitched roof).
You live in the main house as your sole or main residence, and the garden home is never sold separately or let short-term.
Fingal County Council is notified at least 14 days before work starts, with the location and Eircode of the property.
Work starts and finishes by 31 December 2030.

We check your site against every condition at the free site visit. Sizes above 45 m² need standard planning permission from Fingal County Council, which we apply for on your behalf.

How the S.I. No. 340/2026 exemption works →

Fixed prices nationwide

Garden room & granny flat prices in Malahide

A build in Malahide costs the same as anywhere we work: one fixed price per size, including design, build and full project management. Prices exclude site works, connections and professional fees. We quote those after your free site visit.

Malahide price list: fixed prices for every size
Size & model	Fixed price	Bedrooms / use	Planning
25 m²Garden Studio	€78,315incl. 13.5% VAT€69,000 + VAT	Garden room · not for sleeping in	Exempt as garden room†
33 m²1 Bed Granny Flat	€106,577incl. 13.5% VAT€93,900 + VAT	1 bedroom	Can be exempt*
45 m²1 or 2 Bed Granny Flat	€143,578incl. 13.5% VAT€126,500 + VAT	1 bed (2 bed possible)	Can be exempt*
48 m²2 Bed Granny Flat	€152,658incl. 13.5% VAT€134,500 + VAT	2 bedroom	Standard permission

The 25 m² Garden Studio is a Class 3 garden room, not a home. It is for use with your home — an office, studio, gym or hobby room — and cannot be lived in or slept in without planning permission.

*Subject to site eligibility under S.I. No. 340/2026, Class 3A (32–45 m² in the rear garden, owner living in the main house, at least 25 m² of garden remaining, own access within the garden, 14-day notice to the council) — confirmed at your free site visit. Build time refers to the on-site structural build once foundations are ready; excludes design, planning and connections lead-time. Prices exclude site works, connections and professional fees. †Garden Studio: Class 3, Part 1, Schedule 2, Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as substituted by S.I. No. 338/2026. Not forward of the front wall; finishes to match the house if built to the side; not for human habitation. May not apply where planning conditions restrict exempt development. Counts towards the 45 m² Class 3A limit if you later add a garden home. Confirmed at your free site visit.

Full price list & what each price includes →

Concept floor plans

Layouts for Malahide gardens

Our 10 concept floor plans run from 32 to 45 m², each drawn to scale so you can print it and mark it out in your garden. Every home is custom designed, so a plan is a starting point, not a limit.

For a long, narrow garden

Browse every floor plan

Malahide FAQ

Garden homes in Malahide: your questions

Do I need planning permission for a garden room or granny flat in Malahide?+

In most cases, not for a garden home of 32–45 m². Malahide follows the same national rules as everywhere else: under S.I. No. 340/2026 (Class 3A), a detached home of 32–45 m² in the rear garden of your main house is exempt from planning permission if at least 25 m² of garden remains, it sits 0.6 m from every boundary, it has its own access within the garden, you live in the main house, and Fingal County Council is notified 14 days before work starts. The 33 m² 1 Bed Granny Flat and the 45 m² 1 or 2 Bed Granny Flat fit the band; the 48 m² 2 Bed Granny Flat needs standard permission, which we handle. The exemption runs until 31 December 2030, and we check your site free of charge. The 25 m² Garden Studio is a garden room, not a home: it is exempt under Class 3 as a garden structure, subject to that class's own conditions (no more than 30 m² of garden structures in total and at least 25 m² of garden left), and it cannot be lived or slept in.

Which council do I notify for a garden home in Malahide?+

Malahide is in the Fingal County Council area, so that is the planning authority you notify. The Class 3A notification must reach the council at least 14 days before work starts, giving the location and Eircode of your property. Email specialapps@fingal.ie, or post to County Hall, Main Street, Swords, Co. Dublin K67 X8Y2. Fingal County Council publishes its own notification form, linked on this page, and we prepare and file it for you as part of every exempt build. It is separate from the building control Commencement Notice, which goes on BCMS because a garden home is a new dwelling.

How much does a garden room or granny flat cost in Malahide?+

Our prices are fixed nationwide, so a build in Malahide costs the same as anywhere else: €93,900 (€106,577 incl. 13.5% VAT) for the 33 m² 1 Bed Granny Flat, €126,500 (€143,578 incl. 13.5% VAT) for the 45 m² 1 or 2 Bed Granny Flat and €134,500 (€152,658 incl. 13.5% VAT) for the 48 m² 2 Bed Granny Flat (+ VAT @ 13.5%), including design, build and full project management. The 25 m² Garden Studio, a garden room rather than a home, is €69,000 + VAT @ 13.5% (€78,315 incl. 13.5% VAT). Prices exclude site works, connections and professional fees. We quote those after your free site visit in Malahide.

How long does a garden home build take in Malahide?+

Once your foundations are ready, the on-site structural build takes 5–10 days. Primestructures’ own crew builds every home, with 10 years of ICF construction behind them. Design, planning and connections come before that: for an exempt size, the 14-day notification to Fingal County Council and the building control Commencement Notice have to go in before work starts, and a larger size needs planning permission first. We give you a full timeline at your free site visit.

Around Malahide

Guides & nearby areas

Garden home guides

Nearby areas we cover

Other towns in Co. Dublin

Granny flats & modular homes across Dublin →

Free, no-obligation quote

Get a fixed price for your site

Start with your name and number so we can get back to you. Then check your garden and add any site details you know for your quote — the extra questions are optional. You deal with Nua Living throughout: one point of contact from your first call to handover. Primestructures’ own crew builds every home, with 10 years of ICF construction behind them.