Is the three-bed semi on the way out?

Do higher densities mean a concrete jungle of identikit terraces with tiny back yards and no room inside to swing a cat? Or will a whole new concept in housing design introduce a mix of ages and lifestyles to the bleak sameness of the current suburban landscape? A commission appointed by the Minister for the Environment to advise on housing densities will report its findings to him by the end of next week. Architect Brian O'Rourke, town planner Fergal MacCabe and Margaret Fleming of the Jones Lang Wootton agency are looking at how an increase in houses per acre might loosen up the first-time buyers' market. Draft guidelines will be published by the government at the end of next week.

According to commission member Brian O'Rourke, households have become smaller, creating different needs for today's society. However, while Irish people have taken to French bread and bottled water like good Europeans, whether they are ready for communal gardens and living in duplex style accommodation has yet to be seen.

For some time, working couples without children have been making the decision to sacrifice garden space for shorter commuting time. Two-up-two-downs in Dublin inner suburbs like Fairview and Stoneybatter have served the starter market well and these are in the same price bracket as a three-bedroom semi in the outer reaches of the city.

With decisions about to be made on the shape of housing to come, estate agent Gerry Leahy believes that the demise of the three-bedroom semi is not necessarily a bad thing. He argues that more flexible densities could permit a complete range of house types in one development. There would be advantages socially and economically in creating an environment of mixed age and skill levels, says Leahy.

"Who decides that a three-bedroom semi is the ideal first move? People could, for example, buy a one-bedroom unit and in time move to a two, three or even four bed duplex or semi-detached house all within the one development. There will be sacrifices, of course, like gardens, but a lot of first-time buyers don't want or need their own individual front or back garden."

Architects involved in the regeneration of Ballymun, however, have found that families still want traditional long back gardens. An enclosed private area where children can play in safety is a high priority with Ballymun tenants - probably more a reaction to communal areas littered with spent syringes than resistance to change.

Mainland Europe has less of a tradition of owner-occupancy. In most capital cities, a house with a back garden within commuting distance is a luxury few can afford. New developments generally provide a mix of apartments and family houses and like here, apartments have communal gardens while (prohibitively expensive) houses have enclosed lawns at the rear.

European countries tend to define density by plot ratio rather than the numbers of houses per acre. This is a more accurate measurement according to densities commission member Brian O'Rourke, who says that the volume of building per acre decides how much open space there will be. This, he says, has a huge impact on the landscape.

Higher densities mean smaller gardens and landscaping will be an important element in future housing schemes in this country. Front gardens will be open plan or disappear altogether in the developments of the future. At one scheme currently under way in Stepaside, local rock and ferns are being used in an effort to blend the communal gardens with the surrounding mountainside.

The changes Gerry Leahy is calling for have already begun, although the more adventurous schemes await the Government's ruling on densities. Druid Valley in Cabinteely, Co Dublin, launched last autumn by Sherry FitzGerald, includes two-bedroom apartments, three and four-bedroom duplexes and traditional detached and semi-detached houses on the 100-acre development.

The apartments, costing £139,950, are at garden level with a rear patio. Duplexes at £220,000 have footbridge access to a garden at the rear. All of the apartments and many duplexes have been sold, mostly to first-time buying couples and young families attracted by the combination of low-maintenance gardens and spacious accommodation.

Developer William Neville is hoping to change a number of the traditional-style houses planned for Druid Valley to duplexes and apartments, according to Conor Gallagher of Sherry FitzGerald.

Douglas Newman Good is soon to launch Shea's Court, a courtyard development at Manor Street, 10 minutes from the Dublin city centre. This is a small infill development of three-bedroom duplexes, dormer bungalows and one-bedroom apartments on communal landscaped grounds.

Prices are £115,000 for a one-bedroom garden level apartment, £155,000 for a two-bedroom dormer bungalow with a patio at the rear and £195,000 for a three-bedroom duplex apartment with a balcony. Buyers can upgrade as the need arises, subject to availability, without having to move out of the development.

The extra profit in building more houses to the acre is a bonus for developers, who hope that higher densities will also allow them to vary the house types on offer. Hamilton Osborne King is selling agent for 180 three, four and five-bedroom detached houses on a 33-acre site at Stepaside, Co Dublin. Should there be a ruling on densities in the coming months, the developer will include a number of smaller mews-type houses with archway entrances, aimed at first-time buyers or retired couples.

There is a strong market for two-bedroom houses at affordable prices. At the Castle Riada scheme in Lucan, Co Dublin where a total of 350 houses are being built, almost all the 28 two-bedroom terraced houses launched in January at £98,950 sold out within days of the launch.

Architect Jim Pike, of O'Mahony Pike, which were involved in drawing up the master plan for Ballymun, predicts an increase in the numbers of terraced houses and apartments in urban areas. "Suburban estates are a waste of land and not people-friendly places. There is a large stock of family houses not occupied by families. Yet the major demand is from one and two-people households."

Fundamental change is what is needed, says Gerry Leahy. His dream development would have terraced houses, duplexes, apartments and the traditional four-bedroom semi in clusters of 30 to 40 houses, built around open greens that would take the place of front gardens. A percentage would have wheelchair access, others reserved for old people and for families with young children.

"Everybody's watching and waiting for the report from Noel Dempsey's office. Nobody is going to initiate a new scheme until the cap is lifted on densities."