South East housing workshop to take place in Waterford
It's hoped changes to planning will help address housing need in the south east
The annual South-East Housing Workshop of the Irish Home Builders’ Association (IHBA) will take place on Tuesday, May 14, in the Tower Hotel, Waterford.
The event will take place between 2pm and 5pm and south east members of the IHBA, a constituent body of the Construction Industry Federation (CFI), are eagerly awaiting planning changes to help deliver much-needed homes to support the region’s growth.
Recent housing statistics have shown significant increases in housing commencements across the South-East, with a 16 per cent rise in Waterford, 29 per cent in Wexford, and 74 per cent in Carlow.
Ronan O’Brien, Regional Manager of the Southern Region with the Construction Industry Federation said: “The census in 2022 showed a 20 per cent increase in the population of the South-East Region since 2006."
“Our South-East homebuilders eagerly await the review of the National Planning Framework (NPF) ‘Ireland 2040’," said Mr O'Brien.
He said the previous NPF underestimated the population growth for the region and the current City & County Development Plans made their residential zoning requirement based on these outdated figures.
"As a result, land was de-zoned across the region in the latest iterations of the County Development Plans," said Mr O'Brien.
“In order to maintain the momentum of increased housebuilding in the region, we need to ensure there is enough zoned and serviced residential land in the South-East," he said.
"We need our planning and judicial system to deliberate on planning applications in a much shorter timeframe," he added.
"The sooner we can address these issues, the sooner we can address the South-East’s housing needs."
The halfday workshop in the Tower Hotel, sponsored by Home Building Finance Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, will bring housebuilders, property developers, policymakers, and local utility providers together to examine how the delivery of homes can be accelerated in the South-East in the context of the housing crisis and rising population.
“The CIF commends the Government for the various schemes that have been introduced to increase housing supply," said Mr O'Brien.
"The last number of years have seen very significant cost inflation and disruption to supply chains internationally and domestically for well documented reasons," he added.
He said cost stability is a vital part of increasing housing supply, as well as the ongoing collaboration between the private and public sector. "We would not have seen the increased level of housing commencements without the development contributions scheme waiver and water connection rebate," he said.
"A critical factor in the increase in housing commencements was the ability of housebuilders to commence with confidence, knowing that there was going to be an end purchaser," he added.
"This is why the Local Authority Affordable Purchase, Help to Buy and First Home Schemes are also so important."
Mr O'Brien said "timelines for sign-off of all schemes from central Government" are lengthy, with a significant number of steps in the process, and that can impact on their viability.
