Posts by Laura

Earlier this year the Cabinet approved the Planning and Development Bill 2023 and, this week, the Government published the latest draft of the Bill, which is the third largest piece of legislation in the history of the Irish State. The Business Post has published a helpful ‘explainer’ article about this. The new Planning and Development Bill 2023…

A Path to a Healthier Irish Rental Market Recently, a senior planning official described the ongoing situation in Ireland as “not a housing crisis”, but rather “affordability crisis”. He was right, sort of…  Yes, Ireland has an affordability crisis, but that persistent lack of affordability is dampening the delivery of new supply, resulting in a…

It is becoming increasingly clear that Ireland’s regional cities and towns hold untapped potential for tackling our current housing crisis – although our ‘housing crisis’ is emerging as more of an ‘affordability crisis’ right now. The call for strategically-located residential development has never been louder, and there is a clear and significant opportunity for homebuilders…

The controversial Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) is proving to be a bigger headache for the State than previously expected, with Dublin City University (DCU) amongst the latest landowners to challenge findings by An Bord Pleanála that their properties are liable for the new tax, which is set to come into force in 2025.  The…

What we know so far – promises and pitfalls Last month the Planning and Development Bill was approved by the Government. Long overdue, the industry was promised the most significant overhaul of the country’s planning system in decades. ‘Significant’ is a broad term. Yes, this is a large piece of legislation – the third largest…

A Closer Look at Planning and Regulation The health of a nation’s housing system is inextricably linked to the cost of building new homes, and Ireland’s system, unfortunately, is feeling the strain. As Sean Keyes notes in his recent article on The Currency, Irish housing is in crisis, leading to increased rents, homelessness, and families…

An Urgent Call to Action Ireland’s housing delivery landscape, as depicted recently by Brendan McDonagh, the head of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), in the Irish Examiner, paints an unencouraging picture. The NAMA chief talks about his concerns about spiraling costs and procedural roadblocks that currently stand in the way of housing delivery, mainly…

There is a particularly interesting article in the Irish Examiner today wherein property developer Michael O’Flynn warns of the likely ‘unintended consequence’ of the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) new land tax to increase the price of new homes for homebuyers – you can read the article in full here. As regular readers here will be…