Residents and the economy in general would benefit from a more flexible and fast-moving system for building homes.
Raymond Tutty, Head of Planning
The government should be commended for the financial means deployed in the July jobs stimulus package to help get Ireland's businesses back on their feet. It is impossible to satisfy all demands, but the package will assist in mitigating some of Covid-19’s impact on the economy.
As well as deploying its monetary resources, however, the government must look at what non-financial tools it can use in the short term to help the economy and to deliver new homes.
Covid-19 has allowed Ireland to trial public initiatives that would not have happened six months ago. Online healthcare delivery, temporary rent freezes, wage subsidies and new car-free areas in our towns and cities. With the impetus of a new government, I believe there is an opportunity to assist economic growth and delivery of new homes through more flexibility in the planning system.
The planning system is not sufficiently agile or flexible for the short-term challenges we now face. Perhaps a good example of this would be the ongoing legal challenges from Dublin City Council to the residential element of the Spencer Place apartment scheme in the north docks. This ongoing debate demonstrates how schemes are getting bogged down in the planning quagmire.
It is widely agreed that an increase in new housing is to be welcomed. In addition, most people would not consider 13 storeys to be tall in the docklands area. Darragh O’Brien, the new Minister for Housing, who is responsible for planning matters, is on record as stating that the docklands area should accommodate significantly taller buildings.
Despite this, Dublin City Council is challenging An Bord Pleanála’s grant of the 13 storey residential development in the High Court as the scheme’s height exceeds the Planning Scheme allowance for the area.
I have sympathy for Dublin City Council’s position, as it is seeking to operate within a legislative framework handed down by national government. Accordingly, we need to take a fresh look at the overall planning framework and what changes we can make quickly.
During my time in London, I was impressed with the British government’s willingness to alter the planning system to encourage private sector growth and new housing. Since 2013, planning permission has not been required to convert entire office buildings to residential in England. This led to the removal of underutilised office buildings in secondary locations and the delivery of much needed dwellings. It provided certainty to building owners, reduced the cost of conversion and delivered new homes quickly in sustainable locations.
There have been more good than poor examples of these office to residential conversions. We can learn from the English experience by ensuring minimum residential design standards and unit mix are delivered in these conversions. Furthermore, it was originally brought in for a period of three years in England to test the outcomes. Why not trial a similar temporary provision in Ireland?
In July, a raft of additional planning changes were enacted in England to assist businesses and the economy. A business premises will no longer require planning permission to change between retail, café, restaurant, office, gym or nursery use. This will give landlords greater flexibility to fill vacant space and provide more freedom to business owners for innovation in meeting the changing needs of their customers.
Other changes of note include allowing the demolition of free-standing commercial buildings and replacement with residential dwellings.
Existing purpose-built apartment buildings will also now be allowed to extend upwards by two storeys without needing full planning permission. Why not look at similar innovative measures to reduce planning risk and encourage private sector residential development?
We also need to look at the rigid density requirements that are applied to residential development outside Dublin. Even in the relatively buoyant pre-Covid-19 economy, the planning requirement to deliver apartments and duplexes was not viable in many towns and suburban city locations. We cannot stick to these rigid density requirements in a very different economic climate. Planning authorities and the private sector should be given the flexibility to deliver dwellings that are viable and aligned to market demand over the next three to five years.
Ideas like these can be trialled on a time-limited basis and made permanent if they have the desired effect. We must be innovative in our response to Covid-19 and the planning system can play its part.
Raymond Tutty is Head of Planning with Savills Ireland.
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