Land available for over 40,000 Dublin houses

More than 2,500 acres of zoned, serviced land is available in Dublin on which more than 40,000 housing units could be developed starting immediately, the first State-wide inventory of serviced land has revealed.

The figures, which were compiled by the Department of the Environment, support the contention that serviced land is not being developed as fast as it might be to tackle the current housing shortage.

The Dublin bank of serviced land would provide for a housing output of four times last year's level, which was itself a record. In addition, serviced land available in counties Kildare, Meath, Wicklow and Dublin at the end of last year amounted to almost 6,000 acres, or 96,000 housing units.

In Cork the number of acres of zoned land was almost 5,500, while in Galway the figure was 1,550. In Limerick 1,600 acres was available, while in Waterford about 500 acres was available.

The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Robert Molloy, said recently that the Government would consider a range of incentives to encourage landowners not to "sit" on zoned land. A third report from the economist Dr Peter Bacon is due this summer and is expected to introduce increased taxes through stamp duties on speculation in the housing market by private individuals.