Pressure on State to stump up cash to release zoned lands in Dublin

Last year the State's Housing Agency calculated the number of homes that would be needed in Dublin over a five-year period – a minimum of 37,700, rising from 5,700 last year to 8,970 in 2018.

Last week the agency revealed how work was progressing on achieving these targets.

Not well, was the answer. A little over half the homes (3,200 or so) needed last year in Dublin were built.

Things are’t looking too bright so far this year either. By the end of June, less than 1,500 homes had been built in the city – not even a quarter of what needs to be built this year.

The Dublin Housing Task Force was set up under Construction 2020 to sort this out, or at least to identify the number of homes that could be built in Dublin, what was holding back their development and how to increase supply.

The taskforce membership, as well as the four local authorities concerned, includes representatives from Nama, the Housing Agency and, crucially, the National Transport Authority and Irish Water.

Unused

In its first report in June last year the taskforce totted up how many planning permissions had been granted by each local authority, but were as yet unused by developers.

Fingal, the area with the greatest space for expansion, had the most, having granted permission for more than 9,000 homes that had yet to be built.

Dublin city and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, both had just over 2,000 homes waiting to be built, with South Dublin having granted permission for not far off 4,500 homes.

Between the four, there were another 2,600 odd permissions under consideration by the planners, which by now will have been determined. On top of that there was, the taskforce said, another 25,000 zoned and serviced lands just waiting for their owners to submit planning applications.

The report clearly put it up to the developers. Here, it said, is the permission which you sought to build somewhere between 18,000 and 20,000 homes, so go build them.

Also, here is enough land the local authorities have zoned and the State has provided infrastructure for to build another 25,000, so why not, developers, submit some applications for them?

But this latest report, written several months ago by the task force but not yet published, points the finger elsewhere; the onus is now on the Government to step up.The remaining zoned land in the city and county needs State investment of €165 million, in roads, sewers and power lines, to make it usable.

Invested

Not all this money needs to be spent now, because not all the homes are needed, or could be built, straight away, and the 46,000 should see Dublin through for about six years. But, infrastructure development is time-consuming, and so the taskforce estimates €63 million needs to be invested within the next 18 months so that the land is ready for another 12,500 homes once the 46,000 run out.