The new government housing plan, titled: “Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030” has promised to be a new phase for housing in Ireland, but what is new or what is just a continuation of previous Government plans and policies.
Largely, the new housing plan contains enhancements of existing schemes, like the Help-To-Buy and The First Home scheme. Additionally the Land Development Agency (LDA), has had its budget increased by €2.5 billion, to a total yearly budget of €8.75.
The LDA is the state body responsible for affordable housing development, and will have its scope broadened and increase its land acquisitions.
The new plan, introduced by Minister for Housing James Browne also seeks to address the stagnation in the completions of apartments, with 2024 figures dipping 24 per cent below the expectations.
The Minister, in an attempt to restimulate apartment projects, has promised significant changes to rent control and a drop in VAT rate on apartments from 13.5 per cent to nine per cent.
Indications from developers seems to be that previously stalled projects will resume, but it could take from two to three years before the significant increase in completions are realised.
In line with the May 2024 Housing Commission report. A new body should be created with the power, “to address functional failures and implement reforms”. The plan is creating this new body, and is to be called the Housing Activation Office.
This new office will, “speed up homebuilding by removing infrastructure delays”. To be led by a “Housing Tsar”. The new office is to be found under the Department of Housing.
While the powers of the new office are not as all-encompassing as the Housing Commission, the new office will: “Engages directly with 31 city and county councils to identify barriers. Work alongside the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) to support sustainable communities and focus on local infrastructure needs for multiple housing sites”.
These URDF were planned under Project Ireland 2040, and aim to develop the five cities and large towns of Ireland, through projects of “regeneration and rejuvenation” to make Ireland’s urban centres “more compact and sustainable developments”.
Alongside the URDFs, local authorities are being asked to identify potential UDZ, or Urban Development Zones, with masterplanning of these zones to be aided by the new HAO. These UDZ were created in the Planning and Development Act, 2024.
UDZ’s are places near and around high-capacity transport corridors and are in strategic locations. Areas designated as UDZ can likely expect increased funding for public infrastructure and fast tracked planning proposals.
Absent from the plan is addressing urban sprawl, which Dublin suffers the most, of all the urban centres in the country. Dublin’s skyline is considerably flat for a city of its population.
This low skyline is due to the strict planning laws enforced by Dublin City Council, citing that “The City Council remains committed to the need to protect conservation areas, architectural conservation areas and the historic core of the city”.
However in recent years, areas in and around the docklands have grown steadily taller, but when compared to our European counterparts.
This new plan came days before the announcement of former Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe’s plans to leave cabinet. Donohoe’s budget has come to define post recession economics, dubbed “paschalnomics” and neo-liberal adjacent policies which promoted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and low corporation tax.
The new government housing plan has had mixed reactions, with members of construction industrial groups celebrating the new plan. While many charities and members of the opposition stated how some finer details will be needed when the plan becomes law.
Speaking to The Journal, University College Dublin Assistant Professor of Architecture and architect, Orla Hegarty, told The Journal that this new plan is not a large departure from previous plans and attempts of the Government to tackle homelessness in the country.
Hegarty added that the Government is, “further along the stages of grief from denial and bargaining to depression and perhaps even some acceptance, which is a good thing”.
This is the fourth plan published in the past 12 years, with Fine Gael having a hand in all four plans.
In this new housing plan, there are now annual targets to meet, replaced with an overall goal of 300,000 houses built by the end of this new plan in 2030. The government has confirmed that the houses built this year will be counted towards this 300,000 target.
Within the housing commission report published May 2024, they stated that 20 per cent of the national housing stock should be “social and cost-rental housing”, the new plan has allocated 20 per cent of the 300,000 target to be social housing, with a per annum rate of 12,000, to meet the target set.
Additionally, critics of the plan have commented how simply throwing money at the housing crisis will not fix it, and other measures must be undertaken for Ireland to meet the annual housing targets.
Emblematic of this is the lack of addressing the Greater Dublin Drainage Scheme in the plan. Many housing developments in North Dublin, and the surrounding areas in Kildare and Meath depend heavily on this new scheme, which was first submitted for planning permission in 2018, but has been stuck in judicial review ever since.
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has indicated that bespoke legislation will be introduced to help the Greater Dublin Drainage Scheme and other key infrastructure schemes go ahead. However, Martin admitted that they too could face legal challenges.
Martin went on to say that “The risk appetite is changing in terms of getting things done”, continuing, “This is a project that cannot wait”.
This new plan comes on the backdrop of record homelessness rates, as of October 2025 over 16,600 people are reported as homeless, including 5,200 children. Additionally, the population of Ireland has been growing rapidly, having grown by just shy of 1 million since the first housing plan 12 years ago.
This is a new plan of not many new ideas, and its failure to fully implement the suggestions of the independent Housing Commission does not instill much hope in many people. However, only time will tell how effective this new plan will be in addressing the housing crisis.
