New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showing an almost 40 per cent drop in planning permissions for apartments last year is further evidence that the government\u2019s housing system is broken, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThese figures are stark and have huge implications for future housing developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from the significant reduction in planning permissions granted for apartments, the CSO data also reveals that the number of new homes approved annually fell by over 21 per cent in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also deeply concerning that there are around 90,000 homes with planning permission that have not yet been developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past decade, successive governments have put all their eggs in the investor fund basket, relying on a completely unsustainable build-to-rent model that only delivers unaffordable homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd even when developments are ready to go \u2013 as is the case with thousands of homes to be delivered by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) \u2013 we have seen them held up by government funding delays.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is now time for the government to admit that its housing strategy is in complete disarray. Clearly, issues such as the building costs of delivering homes, and access to finance, need to be addressed. In addition, there must be more investment in the planning system and critical infrastructure like water and energy connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe latest CSO figures confirm what we already suspected \u2013 that the government is going backwards instead of forwards when it comes to housing policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 12, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showing an almost 40 per cent drop in planning permissions for apartments last year is further evidence that the government\u2019s housing system is broken, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, said: \u201cThese figures are stark and have huge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n