State funding of €165 million is needed to allow the zoned land in Dublin city and county be developed for housing, according to an unpublished Government-commissioned report.

Almost 100,000 new homes could be built on available zoned land across Dublin, the report states. But half of these could not be granted planning permission because the necessary infrastructure, such as roads, water pipes and powerlines, has not been provided.

The report of the Dublin Housing Supply Task Force, set up under the Government's Construction 2020 strategy, found almost 50,000 homes could be built if €165 million was spent by State agencies, such as Irish Water and the National Roads Authority in developing the necessary infrastructure .

It recommends that as an initial step “priority investment” of €63 million be made by the end of 2016 to release land for 12,500 homes to be built in “key strategic areas” of Dublin in the coming years.

Taskforce

In June 2014 the taskforce identified enough zoned and serviced land in Dublin for more than 46,000 new homes.

Just over 18,000 of these had planning permission, a further 2,600 houses and apartments had been applied for and were under consideration by the council planners.

Some 25,500 more could be built on zoned land which was ready for development, but was not subject to any current planning permission.

However, these 46,000 homes accounted for under half the number which could be built on lands zoned for housing, according to the taskforce.

Its most recent report, yet to be published, indicates 49,500 more homes could be built on zoned land, if the necessary infrastructure was in place.

The infrastructure needed to open up these lands for development is too extensive to be funded through the levies developers have to pay when they secure planning permission, and would require State agency investment. Much of the infrastructure needed would be under the control of Irish Water.