What a PropertyBuddy report covers, and what it doesn't
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A PropertyBuddy report gathers the public information about one Irish address and its area into a plain-English summary with a green, amber and red traffic-light overview, delivered in 24 to 48 hours. Essential (€79) covers zoning, planning applications nearby including LRDs and SHDs, flood risk and drainage, the home's dimensions and a risk summary. Comprehensive (€149) adds overlooking, published daylight studies, trees, schools, transport, the street and a PropertyBuddy Rating out of 10.
What you send
An Irish address, an Eircode or a Daft.ie link. You can also send planning documents you already have.
If you are buying off plans, the development name and your house type help us find the right drawings in the planning file.
Essential, €79
A focused check of the essentials: planning, zoning, flood risk and the house's dimensions.
- Zoning & local development plan. What the council's development plan, or local area plan, zones the home's site and the land around it for. On a new estate, this shows what the empty sites nearby can be used for.
- Planning history nearby (LRDs/SHDs). Planning applications and decisions around the home, including large housing schemes (LRDs, and SHDs before them). On a new estate, that includes later phases and applications on neighbouring sites. "Nearby" means around the home, not the home itself (see the table below).
- Flood risk & drainage. What the published flood maps show for the area, and what the estate's drainage and runoff plans (including SuDS) in the planning file say.
- House dimensions & full measurement details. Room sizes and measurements. For a new build or off-plan home, these come from the house-type drawings in the estate's planning file.
- Risk & opportunity summary. Every finding sorted into green, amber and red, so the points worth a closer look are clear at a glance.
Comprehensive, €149
Everything in Essential, plus:
- Architectural specs & overlooking. What the layout drawings show about window positions and privacy, including whether windows on nearby homes look onto your plot.
- Sunlight & daylight studies (where published). Where a daylight and sunlight study has been published with a planning application, we explain its calculations (BRE criteria) and what it says about light in the garden and living rooms. Where no study exists, the report does not comment on light or orientation.
- Trees, plants & greenery. The mature trees, hedges and green spaces around the home and across the estate.
- Schools & neighbourhood insights. Primary and secondary schools near the address, catchment details, enrolment trends, and walking distances to transport and amenities. It does not tell you whether a school place will be available; each school's admission policy decides that.
- Transport & infrastructure (BusConnects/Luas). Routes, stops, stations and walking distances, and planned schemes such as BusConnects and Luas. It does not say how often or how reliably services run.
- Your street & surroundings. The road in front of the house, street lighting, footpaths, parking, and traffic and noise on the street.
- PropertyBuddy Rating. A score out of 10 for the overall outlook, shown beside the key findings.
Which tier suits a new build or off-plan home
Essential covers the questions most off-plan buyers start with: what is planned on the sites around the estate, what the flood maps and drainage plan show, and the room sizes on the drawings.
Comprehensive adds overlooking, what a published light study says (where there is one), schools, transport schemes and the street, plus the Rating.
Not sure? Pick "Not sure yet, help me choose" on the request form.
What a report looks like
The sample report on our homepage shows the format. Each finding gets a label and one line of explanation. For example:
- WATCH: Apartment LRD proposed 180m away. Application live with the council, decision pending.
- CLEAR: Outside all mapped flood-risk zones.
- NOTE: Zoned residential, no rezoning pending.
The sample address is fictional. Your report covers the address you send.
What the report does not cover, and who does
Some of the most important questions about a home are not on either tier. Here is who answers them.
| Question | In the report? | Who answers it |
|---|---|---|
| The home's own planning history: extensions, retention, whether it was built as permitted, later changes to the house type | No | Your solicitor. The Law Society tells solicitors to "seek evidence that there is, in fact, planning permission for the house" and, where appropriate, an architect's or engineer's opinion that it was built in accordance with it (Law Society practice note) |
| Whether the estate has been, or will be, taken in charge by the council; management company and service charges | No | Your solicitor; the county council's taking-in-charge section |
| Snags, build quality, structure, pyrite, mica | No | A snag surveyor, chartered building surveyor or engineer; ask your solicitor about the home's structural defects cover |
| Sound through walls | No | A surveyor or engineer |
| Septic tanks | No | An engineer |
| Light or orientation where no daylight study has been published | No | You can check which way the garden faces from the north arrow on the site layout drawing, or on an online map |
| Event-day traffic | No | Local knowledge |
| How often or how reliably buses and trains run | No | Timetables and live times on Transport for Ireland |
| Whether an insurer will offer flood cover, or a lender will lend | No | An insurer or insurance broker; your lender or mortgage broker |
| Whether a school place will be available | No | Each school's admission policy |
| Safety or crime | Never | Not given |
| What the home is worth, what to offer, or whether to buy | Never | A valuer, your solicitor, a financial adviser |
| Grants such as Help to Buy or the First Home Scheme | No | Revenue and the First Home Scheme |
For the full picture of who checks what on a new build, see Buying a new build or off-plan home in Ireland.
Where the information comes from
We read the documents ourselves and write the summary in plain English. The sources are public:
- Council planning registers, development plans and local area plans (all applications can be viewed online through the council or Planning.LocalGov.ie).
- The National Planning Application Map and zoning map viewer on myplan.ie.
- Appeals and large schemes on An Coimisiún Pleanála (which replaced An Bord Pleanála on 18 June 2025).
- The OPW's flood maps on floodinfo.ie.
- The Department of Education's Find a school service.
- Published plans for transport schemes such as BusConnects.
You can check most of these yourself for free. Our guides show how: planning applications nearby, floor plans and room sizes and flood risk and drainage.
Public sources can be incomplete or out of date. A report tells you what they say, not more.
How to order
- Send the address, Eircode or Daft.ie link through the request form, on WhatsApp, or by phone on +353 089 655 6439.
- We contact you to confirm the order and how to pay.
- Your report arrives within 24 to 48 hours of confirming the order and receiving payment.
Cancellation and refunds are set out in section 5 of our terms.