Developers will have to increase apartment sizes by up to 25 per cent if they are to be granted planning permission to build in Dublin, according to new Dublin City Council housing guidelines.
The council has also stipulated that the amount of one-bedroom apartments in any new development should be reduced from a maximum of 45 per cent to just 20 per cent, and that all apartments should be provided with storage within the development.
About 90 per cent of all new homes in the city will be apartments, the council said, and new regulations were necessary because of "high levels of dissatisfaction" among current apartment residents in relation to the size and quality of their homes.
The council will only grant planning permission if one-bedroom apartments have a minimum floor space of 55sq m (currently 45sq m), two-bedroom apartments are a minimum of 80sq m (currently 65sq m) and three-bedroom apartments are a minimum of 100sq m (currently 80sq m).
It has also set a target of having "dual aspect" in all apartments, but has said that, as a minimum, 85 per cent of apartments in a complex must have windows on two sides. It also wants at least half of all apartments in a complex to have windows in their kitchens. Ceiling heights will be increased from 2.4m to 2.7m.
The guidelines also state that apartments of two bedrooms or more should be designed with children in mind, and have study and play areas. Complexes of 500 apartments or more should be viewed as small to medium-sized towns, with the necessary social and infrastructural services included in the development.
