9.3 Housing and Regeneration

9.3 Housing and Regeneration

It is widely acknowledged that there is a need for a significant increase in the delivery of housing in the State. The NPF identifies a national target of at least 25,000 new homes, half of which are expected in our Region, being annually required in order to satisfy the State’s housing needs up to 2040. Achieving this level of supply will require increased national output of 30,000 to 35,000 homes per annum in the years to 2027, to deal with a deficit that has built up since 2010, and will be subject to monitoring and review.

Asset Test for the strategic location of new residential development;

The NPF requires a change in strategy in relation to meeting housing need from the traditional approach of developer led provision of housing, often on greenfield sites at a remove from an urban settlement, to a plan led strategy of consolidation with the provision of the majority of housing in cities and other defined settlements63. This will require a change in housing typologies and, given the changing economic and demographic patterns envisaged in the NPF, a change in tenure typologies as well.

• SCALE - Is there potential for compact sustainable development, based on the settlements scale, rates of growth, local ambition and availability of serviced lands?

• FUNCTIONS - Is there a good level of local employment provision, based on its jobs ratio and net commuting flows, and/or potential to develop complementarities with other places?

Recent trends in the delivery of specialised housing typologies such as student accommodation, build to let developments and shared accommodation is indicative of the change in approach that will be necessary to accommodate the changes in demand and demographics in the Region into the future, and the RSES needs to reflect this.

• SERVICES – Will local services and amenities including community, education, health, leisure and retail be accessible as set out in the ’10-minute settlement’ concept?

• PLACEMAKING - Will the development reenforce a sense of place and character, and create a healthy and attractive environment in line with good urban design principles?

The provision of affordable, appropriate and adaptable accommodation is a key challenge facing the State and the Region. In addition to the location of housing needing to reflect the strategic outcomes and policy objectives of the NPF, it also needs to be provided based on a rigorous assessment of housing need. Housing quality is also important in order to secure positive health outcomes.

• ECONOMIC– Is there potential for better alignment of housing and employment provision, to strengthen local economies or drive economic development opportunities?

• CONNECTIVITY – Is the development accessible to existing/planned public transport and is there potential to improve modal share of public transport, walking and cycling?

The RSES sets out an asset-based approach to the strategic location of residential development in the Region, targeting significant population growth in Dublin and the Regional Growth Centres, supported by balanced population and employment growth in Key Towns and a limited number of economically active Self-Sustaining Growth Towns. Other towns will require targeted ‘catch–up’ investment to enhance local employment and services, for example in rapidly growing commuter towns or to promote regeneration in rural towns and villages. In applying a tailored approach to the location of new housing and urban development, investment needs can be linked to the NPF/NDP Urban and Rural Regeneration and Development Funds.

• ENVIRONMENT – Does the environment have the carrying capacity for development? Is there potential to enhance environmental quality and/or support transition to low carbon/climate resilience?

• INFRASTRUCTURE – Is there a requirement for improvements to water, waste water, utilities and/or digital infrastructure and services to support the proposed development?

See also Asset /Potential Based Criteria set out in Table 3.1 and Appendix A

63 See NPF National Strategic Outcomes 1 and 7 and National Policy Objectives 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/09022006-project-ireland-2040/.

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Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy

Housing Supply and Affordability

CASE STUDY:

Housing supply in the Region has been slow in picking up from historically low levels during the recession. There is a further lag on the delivery of social housing which in turn is placing further pressures on the existing housing stock. Housing affordability and supply issues are impacting upon health and wellbeing, due to overcrowding, with people residing in substandard accommodation and homelessness.

Affordable Cost Rental Housing

There is a need now for accelerated delivery of housing, particularly in Dublin and in identified growth settlements in the Region to ensure the development of high quality and affordable homes located within sustainable communities in order to meet the existing and future needs of a growing population.

The provision of affordable accommodation is a major challenge facing the state and the Region. The development of a new affordable ‘cost-rental’ sector has been identified as part of the reform of the Irish housing system. Under cost-rental models, rents are linked to the cost of building and managing the property, and based on income rather than market rents.

The slow growth of housing stock compared to rates of population growth and household formation has led to an increase in the average number of persons per household to around 2.8 in the Region, based on the 2016 census, which saw a reversal of the long-term decline in the average household size. There are some regional differences in occupancy rates ranging from 2.5 persons per household in Dublin City to around 3 in the surrounding counties.

Looking to cities like Vienna, large scale delivery of cost rental can improve national competitiveness and the attractiveness of our cities. The rented home remains a public asset and future rent increases can be controlled to ensure affordability and security for tenants. Cost rental schemes depend on acquisition low-cost lands, including state lands to develop the site and operate on a no profit rental margin. The Land Development Agency (LDA) has a key role to play in facilitating site assembly and achieving objectives for social and affordable housing on public lands.

The delivery of housing in the Region has largely been market driven with people’s choice of where to live often driven by affordability. Addressing housing supply and affordability will require a suite of cross sectoral measures that reflect the interplay between land values, building costs and fiscal and planning policies. Local authorities, approved housing bodies and other sectoral agencies should be resourced with adequate skills, support and resources to drive the delivery of high quality social and affordable homes and sustainable communities.

Housing Tenure

Since 2011 there has been significant change in housing tenure patterns across the Region with a drop in mortgaged households and a significant increase in the number of households living in private rented accommodation. Over 2 in 5 householders in Dublin City are in rental accommodation with the majority of new housing growth in the private rental sector. Across the Region rates of private rental are also growing in the urban centres.

In contrast, home ownership rates remain high in the Region with 1 in 3 people having mortgages. There has also been an increase in the number of homes owned outright with many people who own their homes outright being empty nesters often in an older age demographic. There is a need to incentivise mobility in the housing market, to address social isolation among older people and to offer more choice by way of an increased supply of accommodation for all life stages.

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Quality of Life

Homelessness

REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES:

The issue of homelessness is a critical challenge facing the Region into the future and is the first pillar of Rebuilding Ireland, the State’s response to the need to accelerate housing supply in Ireland. The National Statement on Housing Need and Demand64 points to the fact that the homelessness problem has been increasing. Although the EMRA does not have an active role in the delivery of housing or in the provision of support services for homeless persons and families, the RSES will set the context for overall housing provision in the Region in the most sustainable locations, within which local authorities and other agencies and bodies will deliver homeless services and accommodation.

Housing

RPO 9.3: Support local authorities, approved housing bodies and other sectoral agencies in the provision of a greater diversity of housing type and tenure, including social and affordable housing and exploring new models of low cost rental and affordable homeownership.

RPO 9.4: Design standards for new apartment developments should encourage a wider demographic profile which actively includes families and an ageing population.

RPO 9.5: Support local authorities, either individually or combined, in the provision of a Housing Need Demand Assessment that will inform housing policy that provides for diverse housing demand and is in accordance with statutory guidelines.

Housing Need Demand Assessment

The NPF, in NPO 3765, requires each local authority, with coordination from the Regional Assemblies, to undertake a Housing Need Demand Assessment (HNDA) for their administrative area that will provide a robust common evidence base to inform housing and land use zoning policies and support the preparation of local authority housing strategies and development plans.

RPO 9.6: Support local authorities and other relevant agencies such as the Dublin Region Homeless Executive in relation to addressing the issue of homelessness in the Region.

The HNDA evidence base includes a range of housing data, along with wider economic, demographic and affordability trends, to understand key housing market drivers and give a statistical estimate of all current and future housing needs, by tenure. The HNDA will inform policy responses about the future location, typology and tenure of housing needs, including affordable housing and single houses in the countryside, which in turn will inform the provision of a sufficient land supply in the right locations to deliver future additional housing.

There is an acknowledgement that in the case of Dublin, the HNDA may be at a metropolitan scale having regard to inter-county and inter-regional settlement interactions. Having regard to the significant influence that Dublin plays in relation to the housing and settlement patterns and demands within the Region it is considered that a Regional HNDA is appropriate for the four Dublin local authorities. It is further noted that new statutory guidelines on development plans will be provided in relation to housing provision and the gathering of housing data (See also Chapter 4 People and Place).

64 Housing Agency National Statement of Housing Supply and Demand and Outlook of 2017 - 2018

65 NPO 37 A ‘Housing Need Demand Assessment’ (HNDA) is to be undertaken for each local authority Area in order to correlate and accurately align future housing requirements. The HNDA is:

to be undertaken by local authorities with coordination assistance to be provided by the Regional Assemblies, and at a Metropolitan scale, particularly where inter-county and inter-regional settlement interactions are to be planned for and managed;

to primarily inform housing policies, housing strategies and associated land use zoning policies as well as assisting in determining where new policy areas or investment programmes are to be developed; and

to be supported, through the establishment of a coordination and monitoring unit to assist local authorities and Regional Assemblies in the development of the HNDA (DHPLG, Regional Assemblies and the local authorities). This will involve developing and coordinating a centralised spatial database for local authority housing data that supports the HNDA being undertaken by local authorities.

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Regional Spatial & Economic Strategy

Regeneration

National Land Development Agency

One of the key elements of the NPF relates to the need for compact growth, with development being focussed within and close to existing built-up areas66. A vital element of this approach is the regeneration of infill and brownfield sites. The importance of the role of regeneration in the delivery of Project Ireland 2040 is acknowledged by the provision of the Urban Regneration and Development Fund (URDF) and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF).

The National Land Development Agency being established under the NPF will have the objective of maintaining and enhancing the capacity for co-ordinating and developing large, strategically located land banks in order to promote the delivery of housing and other development in order to provide, inter alia, more affordable homes.

It is envisaged that the Agency will have CPO powers and will drive renewal of strategic areas not being utilised to their full potential (NPF National Policy Objectives 12 and 6667). It is further envisaged that the Agency will access the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund in order to achieve these goals.

Achieving compact growth targets will require active land management responses to ensure that land and building resources within existing settlements are used to their full potential. Local authorities will be required to establish a database of strategic brownfield and infill sites so that brownfield re-use can be managed and co-ordinated across multiple stakeholders as part of the active land management process– see Chapter 3 Growth Strategy for Urban Infill/Brownfield Regeneration - Guiding Principles.

Refer also to Chapter 3 Growth Strategy, Chapter 4 People and Place and Chapter 5 MASP for additional policies in relation to compact growth and regeneration.

CASE STUDY:
Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF)
The €2 Billion ten-year
		Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was launched in 2018 to support compact sustainable
development, through the regeneration of Ireland’s cities and large towns, in line
with the objectives of Project Ireland 2040 – The National Planning Framework (NPF) and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018 -2027. The Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) provides the investment framework for Eastern and Midland Region (EMR).
The types of proposals eligible for funding include
strategic development areas, active land management, measures to address building vacancy and refurbishment, public realm improvements, enabling infrastructure, sustainable mobility and transition to low carbon and climate resilience. In 2019, 38 successful projects in the EMR were allocated over €42 million, of which nearly €15 went to urban areas within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and over €27 million to support the rejuvenation of Regional Growth Centres and large towns in our Region.

REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES:

Regeneration

RPO 9.7: Support the National Land Development Agency in co-ordinating and developing large, strategically located landbanks, particularly publicly owned lands, in city and town centres that require consolidation and aggregation of land to enable regeneration.

RPO 9.8: To work with local authorities, government departments and relevant agencies to promote increased urban densities in all existing settlements and the use, where appropriate, of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) and other incentives including development contributions to encourage urban regeneration of brownfield lands over the development of greenfield sites and to promote more active land management and co-ordinated provision of enabling infrastructure particularly on publicly owned lands.

RPO 9.9: To support, at a National level, efforts to explore ways to deal effectively with waste and contamination relating to brownfield regeneration.

66 NPO 3a Deliver at least 40% of all new homes nationally, within the built-up footprint of existing settlements.

NPO 3b Deliver at least half (50%) of all new homes that are targeted in the five Cities and suburbs of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, within their existing built-up footprints.

NPO 3c Deliver at least 30% of all new homes that are targeted in settlements other than the five Cities and their suburbs, within their existing built-up footprints

67 NPO 12 The Government will establish a National Regeneration and Development Agency to work with local authorities, other public bodies and capital spending departments and agencies to co-ordinate and secure the best use of public lands, investment required within the capital envelopes provided in the National Development Plan and to drive the renewal of strategic areas not being utilised to their full potential. The Government will consider how best to make State lands available to such a body to kick-start its development role and to legislate for enhanced compulsory purchase powers to ensure that the necessary transformation of the places most in need of regeneration can take place more swiftly and effectively.

NPO 66 A more effective strategic and centrally managed approach will be taken to realise the development potential of the overall portfolio of state owned and/or influenced lands in the five main cities other major urban areas and in rural towns and villages as a priority, particularly through the establishment of a National Regeneration and Development Agency

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Quality of Life