Over 60,000 homes could be built on State land – report

admin May 10, 2023

More than 60,000 homes could be built on State-owned land, according to a report sent to Cabinet this morning.

The Report on Public Land identifies 83 State-owned sites with the potential for up to 67,000 homes in the medium to long-term.

The work compiled by the Land Development Agency indicates that land in the cities of Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Waterford could be used to construct thousands of homes.

The LDA believes that 9,760 of the homes identified in the report could be delivered in the next five to ten years.

A further 17,440 homes are proposed on Class 2 sites, which are considered to have medium to long-term potential, while there are a further 39,710 on long-term, Class 3 sites, bringing the total number to 66,910.

More than half the homes could be built in Dublin, the report states.

The sites with greatest potential include property owned by Horse Racing Ireland at Leopardstown in Dublin, where more than 2,000 homes could be built.

A site owned by Gas Networks Ireland on the Dock Road in Limerick, lands at Galway Harbour, along with a site in the possession of the ESB in Wilton in Cork city, could be used to build thousands of social and affordable homes.

Land around the Bus Depot at Conyngham Road and a Central Bank site at the Mint in Sandyford in Dublin, along with land at the North Docks Bus Depot in Waterford, were also viewed as suitable for housing.

This is the first LDA report on the future potential of State-owned land to deliver affordable and social housing.

The report is aiming to unlock the potential for under-utilised State-owned lands and to create a development pipeline of potential sites for affordable and social housing.

The sites were assessed based on their ability to deliver affordable housing, facilitate the creation of new sustainable communities, and add to existing ones.

The LDA detailed where the houses could be built

Much of the land involved is brownfield and located in existing urban centres in cities and towns with strong public transport links, suitable infrastructure, and other facilities nearby.

A full breakdown of sites identified by the LDA’s planning division shows the locations across the country, including Dublin (38), Cork (14), Limerick (6), Galway (8) and Waterford (4) Sligo (4), Letterkenny (2), Dundalk (4), Drogheda (1) and Athlone (2).

Other reports will soon examine the housing potential of State-owned sites in other relevant public land areas, of which there are currently 38.

The report will now be subject to further consideration by the Government and the LDA.

Government will hear that there are complexities with many of the land sites and substantial further work will now be required.

LDA report pathetic – Cairns

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the Government will revise “upwards” the number of homes to be built on State land by the Land Development Agency.

Speaking in the Dáil, he said he accepted that the LDA had got off to a “slow start”, but he contended that it is now “getting things done” and will be a “game-changer” in the future.

He described the LDA report brought to Cabinet today as “useful” and “very honest”, as it illustrates both what needs to be done but also in what timeframe.

Mr Varadkar said that more social homes were built last year than since 1975 and “more” will be built this year.

He was responding to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, who branded the LDA report as “pathetic”.

She said the LDA had been established five years ago, and the public should be “outraged at this utter incompetence”.

Ms Cairns said the Government claims to be “pulling-out all the stops” to end the housing crisis, but for the LDA to take five years to complete a review was “some kind of sick joke”.

She added that despite all of the lofty promises from Fine Gael, the LDA has yet to deliver a single home on State land.

‘A shock to nobody’

Sinn Féin’s Housing spokesperson has said that the LDA report, outlining that significant levels of housing could be built on public land, will “come as a shock to nobody”.

Eoin Ó Broin told reporters at Leinster House this afternoon that the LDA had a problem in terms of acquiring this land.

He called for greater compulsory purchase powers for the LDA.

A ‘milestone’ report

The Chief Executive of the Land Development Agency has described its Report on Public Land as a “milestone”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, John Coleman said: “It’s important to note that we haven’t been waiting for this report before we do anything. We are already on site, on State lands. We are already working on bringing developments through for 5,000 homes, direct delivery on State lands.”

He said people need to understand that it takes quite a long time to bring things through the planning system, through design, through public consultation and to get the project delivered.

“Five to six years is the timeframe that that takes. We are within that for the first sites that we have underway, under construction today with housing delivered next year from those.”

He said the LDA is also working with the private sector to deliver affordable homes on consented land.

Mr Coleman said the LDA engages with all the land-owning bodies, but the reality is that sometimes they have a different mandate than the LDA and “we just have to accept that”.

He said the LDA faces the same planning hurdles as anyone else as they have to bring projects through the same system.

“I think to say that we would need compulsory purchase powers that are stronger, that’s a discussion that would be a good debate to have, but realistically it would be unusual for us to be CPO’ing other State bodies.”

Additional reporting: Tommy Meskill



Over 60,000 homes could be built on State land – report
Source: Viral Trends Report
Tags:

Post a Comment

0 Comments