Building firms are employing senior counsel at the outset of housing projects “so certain are they” of substantial legal challenges, a senior economist with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) has said.
Niall Conroy also said a “big step change” was required in relation to house building. Around 70,000 homes need to be built per annum for 10 years, more than double the number currently being delivered, he said.
Ifac is an independent statutory body that acts as Ireland’s budgetary watchdog.
Mr Conroy was speaking at the council’s annual Path for the Public Finances conference on Thursday, which was examining infrastructure and investment needs.
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He said proposals to relax planning rules on cabins and modular homes in back gardens as part of Government efforts to tackle housing supply issues sounded “small scale” and he was unsure it would lead to “a massive amount of new housing”.
Under a proposal being developed in the Department of Housing, planning exemptions are being considered which would exempt free-standing modular or cabin-style homes from planning permission.
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Minister of State at the Department of Housing John Cummins recently met officials to discuss whether some types of exempted developments could be fast-tracked against the backdrop of planning laws passed last year.
However, Mr Conroy said: “If you can make it more viable and more feasible for people to build stuff, that’s all positive. The biggest and most impactful thing that has happened was the Planning and Development Bill that went through the Oireachtas last year.”
The Bill aims to speed up delivery of housing and remove blockages in the planning system that can also delay renewable energy and transport infrastructure projects.
Mr Conroy said the average time between an initial planning decision and work beginning onsite was about 18 months for apartments. He cited legal challenges, objections and judicial reviews as delaying factors.
Mr Conroy said there was a gap of about 25 per cent between Ireland and other high-income European countries in terms of infrastructure and that the worst affected sectors were housing, health, transport and electricity.
Based off estimates from the Housing Commission and ESRI, he said 68,500 homes needed to be built every year for the next 10 years to address the backlog in housing, meet current demand and keep up with demographic changes.
Mr Conroy said 50,000 additional construction workers would be required for this and cited training and apprenticeship schemes, the reallocation of workers and migration as possible ways to secure them.
He noted that while migration could play a role in increasing numbers of construction workers, it would also likely lead to more demand for housing in the short term.
