The Irish Planning Institute has claimed an unsustainable proliferation of one-off houses is undermining the vibrancy of rural towns and villages as well as causing serious environmental impacts.
IPI President Gerry Sheeran said there has been no decline in the rate of construction of one-off houses since the Government guidelines were updated in 2005.
Speaking at an awards ceremony in Dublin, Mr Sheeran called for these guidelines to be radically overhauled, as there are now 450,000 one-off houses in Ireland.
Despite the economic crash, Mr Sheeran said 12,000 individual houses were completed last year, which is 3,000 more than was constructed within residential developments.
He argued that one-off housing was siphoning away residential development from towns and villages because they cost the State three times more to service.
Mr Sheeran contended one-off housing was causing serious environmental impacts, both visually and on groundwater and biodiversity, and this was unsustainable in terms of traffic generation and emissions.
He call for the 2005 Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines to be radically reviewed to end what he called 'the proliferation of urban generated housing in the countryside'.
