Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 November 2025
267. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of residential units nationwide which failed to reach completion in 2025 despite receiving planning permission; the estimated value of inactivated permissions; and the measures being taken to expedite delivery in areas of acute demand such as Cork North-Central. [60820/25]
View answerSuch data on incomplete planning permissions or the estimated value of uncommenced planning permissions is not available.
Government is committed to increasing the supply of housing, including through activation of uncommenced planning permissions. The Programme for Government commits to building on the successes of Housing for All and ramping up supply to deliver over 300,000 homes between 2025 and 2030.
More than 24,300 new homes completed in the first three quarters of this year, up 13% year-on-year and the highest figure for the period since the data series began in 2011. While the rolling 12-month total reached almost 33,000, the highest 12-months total since the data series began.
This progress has been mirrored across both Cork City and Cork County with 1,476 and 2,149 new homes complete in 12-months ending Q3 2025, up 27% and marginally down, from a record high, 2% year-on-year, respectively.
Government is focused on continuing to bring forward measures that will build on this and increase the supply of new homes further. The recently revised National Planning Framework is a major step forward in this regard, and will help increase capacity and accelerate home building across the country, while the new Housing Activation Office will work to address barriers to the delivery of infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development.
The new Planning Design Standards for Apartments will allow greater flexibility vis-à-vis the size and mix of apartment types to help increase apartment viability, facilitate increased supply, and address affordability challenges.
The Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2025 will deal with expiring planning permissions and encourage activation of housing.
The next call for expressions of interest under the Croí Cónaithe Cities scheme was issued over the summer and is under assessment – the scheme will help activate the thousands of planning permissions for apartments in our cities.
Further measures to continue enabling supply will be considered in the context of the new national housing plan.
