The Government has finally approved the revised National Planning Framework (NPF) which was published in draft form last summer. The document, considered an essential part of the wider plan to address the housing shortage, awaits approval by the Oireachtas which is seen as a formality.
The document updates the original framework published in 2018 – which itself replaced the national spatial strategy. It is described as a high-level strategic plan for shaping the future growth and development of the state out to the year 2040 by which time the population is expected to increase by a further one million.
The NPF does not contain any specific plans for housing or indeed other areas of the economy. Its purpose is to “set in train” more detailed plans in the areas such as housing, infrastructure and economic growth. It outlines national policy objectives and principles around areas such as sustainability, creativity and community to which these subsidiary plans will be required to adhere.
With respect to housing it predicts that there is a need for approximately 50,000 additional homes per annum out to 2040 and sets a national objective to target the delivery of this number subject to some other objectives around density and resilience.
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The impact of the approval of the NPF on the housing shortage will thus be indirect – but should still be significant. The objective of 50,000 homes a year will inform the plans and policies drawn up by local government including the rezoning of land for housing. It will also provide the policy backdrop for planning and rezoning decisions taken by local planners and if required by the regulator and the courts.
The Minister for Housing, James Browne, has promised that the adoption of the framework will result in significant additional amounts of land being rezoned by the end of the year. This is welcome and necessary, but the question remains as to why it has taken so long for the new target to be set. A similar tardiness was shown by the last government in drawing up new planning legislation.This administration is now paying the price.
It has been clear for quite some time that the previous housing target of 33,000 a year was too low and the figure of 50,000 has been doing the rounds since early 2023. The delay in publishing a revised NPF with new targets – which could have expedited rezoning and planning approvals – was attributed to amongst other things the need to update the document with the results of the 2022 census. It is further evidence of an approach overly-driven by endless process.
Events across the Atlantic may highlight the virtue of an orderly and considered approach to policy making but the slow progress made in revising the NPF is at odds with the urgency of the housing shortage.
