When it came, the admission was stark: the delivery of apartment housing in Ireland “has collapsed”, Minister for Housing James Browne admitted.
The admission comes hard on the heels of disappointing housing completion data for 2024, with 30,030 new homes built last year – a far cry from the 40,000 Government figures were promising late last year and in the lead up to the election, a point the Opposition has been quick to highlight.
Mr Browne’s statement to the Dáil is among clearest indication to date of the extent to which the Government’s housing policy is struggling to get to grips with an intractable challenge.
This is why a raft of new ideas – including some potentially controversial ones such as tax breaks for property developers and changing rules around renting – are currently being discussed.
Death of boy who fell through roof into pub smoking area a tragic accident, inquest finds
Gardaí carry out raids on leadership of drugs gang known as The Family
‘The best retirement plan is to buy a house. Unfortunately, I don’t own one’
Why is Irish social media star Garron Noone at the heart of a controversy on immigration?
There is little agreement among political parties when it comes to solutions but, as Niamh Towey reports this weekend, the contributory factors are generally accepted.
Ireland’s planning system is overly complex – this is a lack of zoned land, there are difficulties raising finance and the absence of large developers in the public and private sector.
In her report, she lists the things that need to happen for a building to start on a greenfield site: “There must be an established need for housing in the area under the National Planning Framework. The land must be zoned for housing, and serviced by Irish Water and the ESB. Next, the scheme must be in line with the anticipated development in the relevant Local Area Plan. Then, a planning application can be made to the local authority. At every stage of this process, obstacles can arise.”
She also highlights two ongoing consequences from the financial crash of 2008 which are still being felt. There was a mass exodus of large property developers and now only two, Cairn and Glenveagh, have the capacity to deliver homes at scale.
“The rest of the State’s developers are small- to mid-sized housing providers that struggle to access the necessary finance required to build at scale.”
The second challenge is Irish banks – principally AIB and Bank of Ireland – remain cautious about lending to property developers, especially those small- to mid-sized housing providers.
Claire Solon, managing director of US investment fund Greystar Ireland, said while international investors were broadly positive towards Ireland, there were risks “working against us”.
“We have a number of specific risks that may not exist in other countries. These would include political uncertainty in terms of policymaking, the rapidity of changes in policy and the risk around planning policy, in particular, and the length of time that it takes to actually get a viable planning permission,” Ms Solon said.
A possible alternative solution to private funding from a source other than banks or property investment funds is to try to access the €160 billion in savings in the State. Towey reports such a system is used in France.
The Minister told the Dáil that while the Government this year has committed €6.5 billion towards delivering housing “we need probably a minimum of €20 billion”.
This means some form of private finance is unavoidable and what needs to be determined now is how this finance can be attracted and on what terms.
Five Good Reads
- Five truths about our teenage boys we need to address urgently: In Ireland, masculinity is at a crossroads. We are in the process of rejecting the harmful ideas of the past but are feeling our way slowly and uncertainly forward.
- Once you start looking, the signs of US recession are everywhere: David McWilliams writes that US tariffs are a sign of insecurity and fear, marking the end of the great American century.
- Government has sent a clear message to the far right: arson and violence work: It may be that the decision to stop locating accommodation centres in parts of the country takes the heat out of anti-migrant protests. But given the victory they have just been handed, I wouldn’t bet on it, writes Mark O’Connell
- ‘I’m not a plastic Paddy’: We have Irish Americans, so why not Irish Britons?: London Correspondent Mark Paul writes that the Irish identity of people born in Britain, where six million have at least one Irish grandparent, can be complex and personal
- Trump is compiling a ‘dirty 15’ list of trade offenders – and it’s not looking good for Ireland: Cliff Taylor writes that the State will be a central player in the US president’s forthcoming tariffs ‘gameshow’ – and the jeopardy will be real
In this week’s On the Money newsletter, Joanne Hunt writes about borrowing against the equity in your home and whether you should consider doing it or not. Sign up here to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox every Friday.
As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.
We value your views. Please feel free to send comments, feedback or suggestions for topics you would like to see covered to feedback@irishtimes.com.
