National Strategic Objective No. 1 of the National Planning Framework (NPF), which was first published in 2018 and revised in 2025, is ‘Compact Growth’. The NPF has, since 2018, included policies and objectives relating to ‘compact growth’, setting out the need to promote a more compact and sustainable approach to development patterns to counteract decades of sprawl.
In support of the NPF objectives the Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities, “the Settlement Guidelines”, were issued as Ministerial Guidelines in January 2024, under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). Under the provisions of Section 28 of Act of 2000 Planning Authorities are required to have regard to Ministerial Guidelines in performing their functions and to apply any Specific Planning Policy Requirements contained within the Guidelines. Following the commencement Part 3, Chapter 3 (National Planning Statements) of the Planning and Development Act 2024, on 2 October 2025, Section 28 of the Act of 2000 has been repealed. National Planning Statements will, over time, replace Ministerial guidelines issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). Until such time Ministerial Guidelines are revoked or replaced, they will continue to have effect under Section 27 of the Act of 2024.
The Settlement Guidelines expand on higher-level policies of the NPF, setting policy and guidance in relation to the growth priorities for settlements, residential density, urban design and placemaking and development standards for housing. This includes delivering brownfield and infill development at suitable locations. The Settlement Guidelines state that to achieve compact growth, it will also be necessary to increase the scale of new buildings in all parts of our cities and towns, with highest densities at the most central and accessible urban locations, particularly in city centres and close to public transport nodes and interchanges. The Settlement Guidelines contain graduated density ranges that respond to settlement sizes (e.g. cities, towns and villages). The Settlement Guidelines also provide for densities to be further refined with regard to centrality and accessibly to services, public transport and site-specific considerations regarding character, amenity and the natural environment.
The Settlement Guidelines also set out maximum car parking rates maximum parking rates for new residential developments. These rates are graduated based on proximity to centres and accessibility to public transport services. The Settlement Guidelines state that in highly accessible locations car parking should be minimised, substantially reduced or wholly eliminated at locations that have good access to urban services and to public transport.
The Settlement Guidelines are one of a number of Section 28 Ministerial Guidelines that are concerned with sustainable forms of residential development and compact growth. Other Guidelines include the Urban Development and Building Height Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2018) and the Planning Design Standards for Apartments Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2025) “the Apartment Guidelines”.
The Building Height Guidelines expand on higher-level policies of the National Planning Framework to encourage compact growth through increased building heights in urban areas. The Building Height Guidelines set out strategic policy considerations and performance criteria for determining appropriate locations for taller buildings. The Building Height Guidelines states that the preparation of development plans, local area plans and Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) Planning Schemes and their implementation in city, metropolitan and wider urban areas must be proactive and flexible in securing compact urban growth through a combination of both facilitating increased densities and building heights.
The Apartment Guidelines set out technical standards relating to apartment mix/typologies, space standards, dual aspect ratios, floor to ceiling heights, stair/lift cores, and amenity spaces. Viability presents an ongoing challenge to the delivery of apartments, where a considerable gap has emerged between the cost of delivering apartment development and comparable general housing market prices. The overall purpose of the Guidelines is to reduce costs and strike an effective regulatory balance, ensuring that apartment development meets the needs of society in terms of standards and quality, while promoting an increased level of output overall.
This approach provides planning authorities with a degree of flexibility so they can operate a plan-led approach and take the circumstances of a plan area or an individual site into account as part of the decision-making processes prescribed under the Planning and Development Acts.
The Planning and Development Act 2024 (Act of 2024) introduces a range of measures to streamline the planning process and provide clarity on decision making timelines. The Act of 2024 introduces statutory time periods for decision making for An Coimisiún Pleanála (An Coimisiún) for the first time. The headline time periods for An Coimisiún will range from 18 weeks for appeals of decisions of planning authorities to 48 weeks for larger-scale Strategic Infrastructure Developments. The varying timelines reflect the differing complexities of applications dealt with by An Coimisiún.
The Act of 2024 also makes important reforms in relation to Judicial Review (JR). Amongst a range of reforms, a number of examples below demonstrate that there is a need to support housing developments while balancing this against the rights of parties to take Judicial review proceedings. These include:
• removing the requirement to apply for leave to apply for JR proceedings which reduces time and removes unnecessary additional legal costs to all parties.
• requiring that an application for JR may only be made on the grounds of challenge raised by the applicant in the statement of grounds filed with their application and sets out limited criteria by which the Court may allow subsequent amendments to that statement of grounds.
• providing that an applicant for JR will not be permitted to plead a ground in JR proceedings unless they have a sufficient interest in the matter to which the ground relates.
The Housing Activation Office, established in 2025 and based in my Department, works across Government, local authorities and infrastructure providers to coordinate and accelerate the delivery of enabling infrastructure necessary to unlock housing development. In January 2026 the Government announced a new multiannual €1 Billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF) to support direct investment in housing enabling infrastructure. Funding will be directed towards projects that directly support housing delivery and ensure that lands identified in development plans are serviced and ready to deliver homes. The fund is managed by the Housing Activation Office in my Department.
