Councillors to be bypassed in land sale to State housing agency

Councillors will not be able to block the sale of local authority land to the Government agency tasked with ramping up housing supply on State-owned sites under proposals to be published on Friday.

The measure being brought forward as part of the Land Development Agency Bill by Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien is designed to prevent local authority members holding up housing developments.

The proposed legislation also increases the level for the provision of affordable homes by the new agency from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. The Covid-19 pandemic and a halt to most construction under the current Level 5 restrictions is set to hit the number of homes built for the second year in a row.

A Government source said it is hoped that the Bill could be passed through the Oireachtas before the summer allowing for the Land Development Agency (LDA) to access up to €1.25 billion in funding for its work in delivering homes on State-owned land. The move allowing for councillors to be effectively bypassed in the sale of land to the LDA is likely to cause unrest among local authority members.

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A Government source said: “As set out in the Bill, the sale of lands by a local authority to the LDA will not require the pre-consent of the elected members.”

The source said this meant that “the artificial blockages, imposed by some, and which are hurting ordinary people, won’t occur.

“We can’t allow scenarios where strategic land, prime for housing, remains unused, denying thousands of people a place to call their own,” the source added.

The original version of the Bill – drafted by the last government – set out how 30 per cent of LDA developments were to be for affordable housing. It is understood that the updated Bill sets the level at 50 per cent and gives the Minister the ability to vary that up or down based on housing needs in a particular area.

The Bill sets out the commercial, State-sponsored body’s core goals of undertaking strategic land assembly and building affordable homes and “sustainable communities”.

The LDA is already working with local authorities on 11 sites to provide more than 3,000 homes and the Bill will set up the agency on a statutory basis.

The Government believes the proposed legislation is in line with EU state-aid rules. Engagement with the European Commission on the matter is said to be ongoing.

The LDA is to focus initially on State lands in towns with populations of more than 10,000 people which the Government can direct to be transferred to the agency. It is also to get first refusal on any State lands up for sale.

The plan is for the LDA to purchase private lands for site assembly purposes through agreement with landowners though in another change to the original Bill it will have compulsory purchase powers for so-called “ransom strips”.