House shortage not due to zoning or delays, says planning group

So-called “delays” in the planning system and alleged shortages of zoned land are not factors holding up house building, the Irish Planning Institute has said.

The institute said there appeared to be sufficient land and planning permissions in the State to tackle the housing shortage.

It called on the Government to introduce a new “site value tax”, to encourage property owners to develop land.

It said this would be preferable to the current “haphazard patchwork of measures” which include a vacant sites register and levy which was ineffective.

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The institute, which is the all-island representative body for professional planners , was responding to remarks by Nama chief executive Brendan McDonagh, who claimed landowners are hoarding sites that could be used for housing.

Mr McDonagh said Nama had sold land which could be used to build 50,000 homes, but only 3,000 units were being built on the sites.

On Friday, Irish Planning Institute president Deirdre Fallon said measures “must be taken to discourage land hoarding and bring sites on stream”.

Necessary infrastructure

Ms Fallon said many housing sites which remained undeveloped enjoyed excellent connectivity as well as “the necessary infrastructure and live planning permissions”.

She said Nama’s comments confirmed the critical issue was speeding up the delivery of new houses, not “ rushing through planning permissions”.

She said the major issue was about “using those planning permissions which were already granted”.

“The key to increasing housing supply at this time does not lie in increasing the number of permissions which are granted each year – though this is important – but in ensuring that those permissions which are granted are built out more quickly,” she said.

Nama’s annual report released this week showed the organisation funded the building of 4,840 new homes between 2014 and March 2017.

It also said it had 2,064 homes currently under construction while another 1,114 new homes which had received planning permission had been approved for funding.