Implications of the Planning and Development Bill 2023 on the pipeline of housing currently going through planning 

Earlier this week The Irish Times reported on a letter sent to the Housing Minister by Irish Institutional Property (IIP). In the letter, IIP points out the ‘severe risk’ posed by the new Planning and Development Bill to the 38,000 homes currently in the planning pipeline. The Planning and Development Bill 2023 is a huge piece of legislation (third largest in the history of the Irish State) and it was hailed as a radical overhaul of the current planning regime. To date, while still at Bill stage, there have already been several hundred amendments made to the originally published draft legislation. 

While a genuine overhaul of planning is needed as a matter of urgency, it is increasingly clear that this Bill is not as radical as promised. Furthermore, it has also sparked concerns among stakeholders, particularly regarding its stance on the treatment of planning permissions subject to judicial review.

Through its letter, IIP has voiced serious concerns about the Bill’s current provisions. According to IIP, the absence of a mechanism to pause the planning clock for developments undergoing judicial review poses a “severe risk” to the delivery of approximately 38,000 homes currently in the construction pipeline. This concern is grounded in the fact that the standard duration for a planning permission is five years, a window that does not extend in cases of judicial review.
IIP’s critique centers on two key points, both of which are fair and reasonable. Firstly, the ongoing legal challenges, which can span from nine months to over three years, particularly if escalated to the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), significantly diminish the effective period available for project completion. Secondly, the requirement for applications seeking an extension of planning permission to comply with the current development plan—rather than the plan under which the scheme was initially approved—introduces a level of uncertainty that could render many schemes infeasible.

The group has proposed an amendment to the Bill, advocating for a provision that would allow for the extension of timelines for planning permissions delayed by judicial review. This proposal aims to safeguard against the risk of permissions becoming redundant due to prolonged legal disputes, especially in a climate marked by rising finance costs and a projected decrease in new planning applications.

In response to these concerns, which are shared well beyond IIP, the Department of Housing has indicated that an amendment to pause planning permissions subjected to judicial review has been tabled for debate at the Dáil committee stage of the Bill. If passed, this amendment would ensure developers retain the full term of the permission to build out their development, contingent on the judicial review not being upheld; we will keep a watching brief on this.

Ian Lawlor
086 3625482

Managing Director 
Lotus Investment Group