The abolition of water charges and cuts in EU grant aid for Irish water projects could curtail the rezoning of further residential land, a new report has warned.

Ms Annette Hughes, of DKM Economic Consultants, has cautioned that there must be a "real risk" that adequate investment in water, drainage and road infrastructure may now be severely curtailed, putting further pressure on the housing market.

Her review and outlook for the property market to the year 2000 and beyond warns that more people would be forced to commute over greater distances as housing developments are pushed even further outside of the major towns and cities.

Ms Hughes research suggests that the demand for housing in the Irish market would remain relatively high up to the year 2001 and would start to slow after that. "The economic environment together with the prospects for interest rates and affordability - will determine the pattern of this slowdown."