High rise apartment blocks could be on the way, as the government has scrapped height restrictions for city buildings. They’re also getting rid of the mandatory requirement to have car parking spaces in apartment buildings. They plan to develop communal housing blocks for young professionals, in a similar set up to student accommodation.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy announced the changes this morning:
“The onus will be on the developer to prove why there should be parking spaces provided in an apartment building. So basically, we are going to remove the requirement that there should be any car park spaces at all… I’ve also announced my intention to remove the numerical height when it comes to restrictions for building apartments…This is to make sure we have viable, high density developments, particularly in our city-centre cores.”
Meanwhile, The Irish Planning Institute is claiming a ‘windfall-tax’ on rezoned development land could help reduce house prices. It says the move could prevent developers from hoarding land and bring down the cost of sites.The institute is holding its Autumn conference today, and is warning against ‘quick fix’ solutions to the housing crisis.
President of the IPI Deirdre Fallon says proper planning for new communities will pay off in the long run:
“We need to ensure that the housing that we build now is going to meet the needs of communities today and into the future and while there is an obvious need to deliver housing urgently in the short-term, this can’t be at the expense of the quality of housing that’s provided.”
