Land available for 100,000 Dublin homes - surveyors

There are 2,233 hectares of land zoned and available for the development of up to 100,000 homes in the four main local authority areas of Dublin, according to a new report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).

The New Housing Supply Capacity Report for the period 2014-2018 found that more than 100,000 residential units capable of housing almost 270,000 people could be built across the zoned land.

But the report, which is the first to map actual planning permissions and residential zoned land in Dublin, points to a housing shortfall in the years ahead.

It suggests there will be demand for at least 35,000 homes over the period, while planning permission has been granted for just 26,000. Dublin City Council (DCC) and South Dublin County Council (SDCC) are the areas with largest shortfall, it adds.

The report was produced for the SCSI by Future Analytics Consulting.

It says there will be a minimum housing requirement of about 14,000 units in the DCC area, but planning permission has been granted for only some 1,300 units. In the SDCC area there is a minimum housing requirement of close to 9,000 units but planning permission has been granted for only 4,200 units.

It described the situation in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area as "healthier", with a surplus of planned units over the minimum requirements. More than 1,000 hectares of available zoned land is located in the Fingal County Council area, where the planning permission statistics also point to a surplus of units compared with minimum requirements.

"This new SCSI study provides further evidence for the need to start building new homes in Dublin to address the housing supply shortage and ease the pace of property price inflation," said Simon Stokes, chairman of the SCSI's residential agency group.

“The situation in the Dublin City Council is critical while the situation in South Dublin County Council is very serious. It’s clear these are the two areas which require urgent attention.”

Mr Stokes called on developers and builders to work with the local authorities to begin more new developments in these areas and to increase the number of planning permissions where demand exists.

“For this to happen, we need to improve levels of availability of development finance, provide upfront infrastructure and ensure a streamlined planning process.”

These measures all featured in the Government's Construction 2020 strategy document.