Sir, – Your editorial “The Irish Times view on the rental market: deeply dysfunctional” (August 9th) aptly sums up the challenges ahead, with one exception. In calling for planning reform, you repeat the unsubstantiated trope that the delivery of housing is “delayed by seemingly endless appeals”.
In the Dublin area, the latest (Q4 2021) Housing Supply Task Force notes that there are granted permissions for 74,879 homes. Only 8,796 were completed and 18,051 commenced, leaving an excess of 48,032 unused permissions.
The Dublin Democratic Planning Alliance collected data on the discredited Strategic Housing Development process, which denied those rights of appeal. In February 2022, it had granted permission for 67,996 units, with only 12,933 commenced. Allowing for those that were under judicial review at the time, there were still 39,823 unused permissions countrywide. There are no delays to supply caused by planning.
The delivery of housing supply has never had any connection to the speed of granting planning permissions. In fact, most planning permissions for housing are unused. A grant of planning permission simply adds value to the land, without any commitment to building the granted housing, which is why the property industry lobby is so keen to link these two unconnected phenomena.
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Proposals for planning reform should be for proper planning and sustainable development, not for the speed at which land values can be increased. – Yours, etc,
ROBIN MANDAL, FRIAI
Dublin 6.