HOUSEBUILDERS AT A CROSSROADS

Expediting housing supply needs to be treated as an emergency, as IHBA members express frustration at the lack of government action around funding

A recent Irish Home Builders Association member survey has found a significant number of housebuilders don’t expect to increase output this year. This is due to a reduction in the number of viable planning permissions, serviced land, infrastructure, funding for apartments or delays in technical or regulatory issues at local authority level. The 2024 housing completion figure of 30,330 residential units was significantly below expectations.

The Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA), a constituent member body of CIF, represents house builders of all scales across Ireland. There is a palpable sense of frustration with all housebuilders as they attempt to scale up to deliver the much-needed housing for Ireland.

Many initiatives have been put in place in recent years that have helped to increase supply considerably. However, the IHBA says we are now at a crossroads with supply side initiatives. To scale up delivery, we need more zoned serviced and serviceable lands and a more effective planning delivery system, in addition to funding mechanisms.

Expediting housing supply needs to be treated as an emergency and funded accordingly. The following outlines a summary list of our key immediate asks:
Key immediate asks
• Capital allocation for AHB Cost Rental and Social Housing schemes to accelerate the many projects in the approval process that are currently stalled. Remove all unnecessary delays in the approval process. Funding must be allocated on a multi annual basis to reduce uncertainty and interruptions.
• Provide the necessary ringfenced funds of an extra €500m per annum to fund the design and construction of capital water and wastewater infrastructural projects. The connection application timeframes must be within 8-10 weeks for all applications. Explore joint ventures between LA’s and UE for enabling infrastructure.
• Expedite the planning applications currently delayed at An Bord Pleanála, Local Authorities and High Court.
• Enable all lands currently zoned/in expired LAP’s/recently rezoned to deliver housing. No more settlement caps. Councils immediately instructed to protect the zoning of these lands. Adopt and commence the revised NPF immediately. Ensure that the current 50,500 target remains at a minimum, not a ceiling.
• Introduce legislation to extend the duration of all existing planning permissions on a time-limited basis.
• Reward Local Authorities for being proactive and achieving their housing delivery targets and beyond (on the basis that it is a minimum, not a ceiling). Instruct all Local Authorities to decide within four weeks issues such as road opening licenses, naming of estates, Part V, etc.
• Immediately establish the Strategic Housing and Infrastructure Delivery Office with significant input from active housebuilders to deal with current blockages to activation.

THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE
The original NPF adopted in 2018 was based on an assumption that the delivery of 25,000 homes a year would be sufficient. It is now agreed that 50,500/pa are needed. This is more than a rounding error and needs a more ambitious approach.
The draft Revised NPF proposes an average housing output of 50,500 units per year every year to 2040, equating to 800,000 units in total. This is a huge challenge and if anything, possibly an underestimate of actual demand. It requires building the equivalent of the entire current housing stock of Northern Ireland, or one third of the State’s existing housing stock, in a 16-year period. Forty percent of this housing (320,000 dwellings) is targeted to be delivered within the existing built-up areas of towns and cities, with the remaining 60% (480,000 dwellings) on greenfield sites. This 60% (480,000 dwellings) equates to 55 Cherrywood SDZ scale projects, two with a total footprint of circa 20,000 ha of serviced, zoned lands3 required.

POTENTIAL EMERGENCY MEASURES IN A TIME OF CRISIS
Remove all restrictions on zoned land (tiered land, settlement caps)
• Urgent action should be taken by the new Minister which removes the tiered zoning approach to residential zoned land in all development plans. Any land identified as residential in development plans should be treated as Tier 1 and available for delivery of residential development, subject to compliance with the relevant planning policy and legislation. Where necessary, fast track amendments can be made to development plans or material contraventions encouraged to ensure the land is considered in accordance with statutory SEA legislation.
• We are aware of thousands of homes being refused planning permission recently, due to the absence of valid Local Area Plans being in place. In most cases, the developments would otherwise have been granted. The government should instruct local authorities to subsume pre-existing LAP zoning plans into their county development plans through a variation or another emergency measure to ensure that development proposals have a solid legal basis upon which to grant planning permission. This is considered an appropriate interim emergency measure until such time as new local area plans and urban development zones are put in place in accordance with the new P&D Act. Whilst a planning authority may have regard to a draft LAP, it currently cannot consider lands in a lapsed LAP to be zoned. It is astonishing in a housing emergency that serviced or easily serviceable lands are being dezoned.

Variation of local authority development plans
The timeline for a variation to a development plan can differ depending on the complexity of the proposed changes and the specific procedures followed by the relevant local authority. However, there are general guidelines and statutory requirements that shape the timeline which typically results in a 9-12 month period from commencement to completion of the process.

Recommendation: Given that timeframe, it is essential that local authorities immediately commence the preparatory work associated with varying a development plan to provide for additional zoned lands. This is key to expediting a variation at the appropriate time and includes the completion of a Settlement Capacity Audit, updated analysis of commenced and completed development on lands previously/currently zoned, and an appraisal of up to date census data. In an instance where LA’s can increase the quantum of zoned land to accommodate much needed homes, this preparatory work is key to streamlining the process.

This, coupled with timely environmental assessments and the preparation of Chief Executive reports expeditiously (post statutory public consultation), can serve to provide for a variation within four months of commencement. It is also suggested that project specific pre-planning engagement can happen simultaneously to speed up the planning application process.

Utilise existing ‘emergency powers’ for the provision of infrastructure delivery
Consideration be given to drafting concise new Planning and Development Regulations with a defined temporary duration whereby infrastructural delivery is included for consideration by the State, with the government signalling to local authorities and infrastructure providers to act as joint venture partners.

Material Contravention Process
Every tool should be available in seeking to tackle the housing crisis. Consideration should be given to the government actively promoting the making of material contravention applications during a defined temporary duration under Section 34(6) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, with respect to certain qualifying development. Decision-making would continue to rest with the elected members, with the same three-quarters majority required to make a material contravention.

Local authority housing target incentive scheme – community development fund
Currently, the funding mechanisms for important community infrastructure (such as schools and childcare services, sports facilities, parks and cultural centres) often lag behind housing delivery, leading to infrastructure bottlenecks and strained public services. The IHBA proposes a more proactive, pre-emptive funding model that aligns infrastructure development with housing expansion to avoid delays in community services. Once a local authority has achieved a certain housing delivery target or agreed goal, a capital grant could then be issued by central government to that local authority for the purposes of providing supporting community services. The local authority could leverage the Part 8 process of the Planning and Development Regulations, which provides a pathway for local authorities to fast-track essential infrastructure projects, that are identified as needed in that local area.
The Community Development Fund is a critical tool for ensuring that Ireland’s housing growth translates into thriving, well-supported communities. By aligning infrastructure with housing delivery, making use of the Part 8 planning process, we can build stronger, more resilient communities for the future. We believe that this step is necessary to create sustainable, well-serviced communities across Ireland.

To read the CIF’s full submission to Government – ‘Interventions to Increase Housing Supply’ – go to www.cif.ie

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Michael McDonnell Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine

Email: michael@irishconstruction.com      WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE