Local authorities will be told to zone more land for housing, as the Government plans to more than double the national annual target as part of efforts to tackle the housing crisis.
Under planned guidelines being brought to Cabinet on Tuesday, councils will be asked to collectively zone enough land to hold 83,000 new homes per year, up from the current 33,000 annual target.
Minister for Housing James Browne is understood to have been seeking “urgent” action from all councils to respond to the housing crisis. They have been instructed to immediately review and vary their local development plans, which set out objectives for sites in their vicinities.
The new zoning guidelines for local authorities will replace ones introduced in 2020 and set out the expected housing demand up until 2040.
These figures draw on a range of scenarios presented by the Economic and Social Research Institute in research from 2024 on population growth, housing demand and assumptions relating to unmet demand.
The Government intends there to be land zoned for 83,000 housing units each year once local development plans are updated.
This comes as Mr Browne also looks to increase housing supply targets for councils nationwide in response to a mixed level of delivery by local authorities.
Earlier this month it was reported that the Government has plans to maintain an effective league table of how the 31 councils are performing in their assignment to deliver social housing.
The patchy delivery statistics showed some councils exceeded their social housing delivery targets, while others fell short.
Separately, people will be able to offer views on proposed planning permission exemptions for cabins and modular homes in back gardens from Tuesday as a four-week public consultation process begins.
Mr Browne is expected to update Cabinet on the proposals being developed by Minister of State for Planning John Cummins.
Under the plans, cabins or modular units of up to 45sq m could be exempt from planning permission if they comply with building regulations and residual private garden space of 25sq m is retained.
The proposed exemptions also include attic conversions and other developments related to transport and water infrastructure.
The proposed changes aim to reduce unnecessary planning applications to in turn free up local authority resources for larger-scale developments.
Exempted development regulations have not been substantially updated since 2001. The plan is for new regulations to be in place before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers is to brief the Cabinet on a report by his department’s infrastructure division outlining the emerging barriers delaying new infrastructure.
The report outlines 12 key issues causing a drag on delivery.
These include inconsistent planning decisions and an increased regulatory and legal burden for the development of key infrastructure.
The report will place a heavy emphasis on the impact of High Court judicial review cases and the growing threat of such legal proceedings on important construction projects.
It is estimated the planning and approval process for critical infrastructure takes between three and five years longer due to the added threat and duration of judicial reviews.
The report will also outline areas of international best practice being examined for potential solutions. These include recent reforms such as Canada’s One Canadian Economy Act 2025, which provides for certain projects of national interest to be fast-tracked.
A final report and action plan will be published in the autumn.
