Government plans to instruct local authorities to double the amount of land zoned for housing will not guarantee the delivery of new homes, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.
Deputy Hearne, who is the party’s housing spokesperson, said:
“Guidelines being brought to Cabinet today will require councils around the country to collectively zone enough land to build 83,000 new homes per year.
“Yet again, this government needs to be reminded that people cannot live in targets. Simply zoning land for housing is not a magic bullet solution and will certainly not guarantee the delivery of desperately needed affordable homes.
“In fact, widescale rezoning for housing will simply give a huge uplift to landowners who will see the value of their land soar as a result.
“A far better solution would be for local authorities to issue compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) on sites around the country and then rezone these lands for housing. This would help ensure affordability for future housing developments on State-owned land, which could be delivered by approved housing bodies or directly contracted builders.
“The government must also ensure there is adequate infrastructure in place to drive delivery of affordable housing.
“Separately, the Cabinet will be updated today on proposals to exempt cabins or modular homes from planning permission if they comply with building regulations. Incredibly, this will allow for units of up to 45 sq m in residential gardens – even larger than the minimum 32 sq m apartments that will be permitted under proposed changes to existing guidelines.
“While some flexibility is warranted here, there are real concerns about the impact of allowing a huge number of unregistered log cabins proliferate in urban back gardens without regard for sufficient sewerage facilities, water capacity or fire safety access.
“The government’s half-baked plan seems to be to simply move people from their parents’ spare bedrooms into glorified garden sheds.
“Rather than undertaking a radical reset of housing policy, this is an ill-thought-out distraction from the government’s failures.”
July 29, 2025