The Construction Industry Federation doesn’t believe proposals to reduce garden size to increase housing output would be accepted in Clare.
The Minister for Housing has been told smaller gardens would be a ‘game-changer’ in solving Ireland’s housing crisis.
Glenveagh Properties, one of the largest home builders in Ireland, has presented a plan to the Minister which would allow developers shave more than a quarter off the distance between the rears of houses.
An existing 22 metre guideline from back door to back door dates back to the 1900s as outhouses, fuel storage and vegetable growing were a popular use of the space in times gone by.
Glenveagh’s urging a reduction of the guideline to 16 metres to achieve more ‘low rise, high density’ developments in suburban areas around the country.
The company believe smaller gardens would not only increase supply but also reduce house prices.
However, the Construction Industry Federation doesn’t believe solving the housing crisis is that simple.
Executive for the CIF Southern Region, Ronan O’Brien, says the plan won’t have the buy-in from people in Clare.
Meanwhile, the government has also come under fire for an underspend on housing in the first six months of the year.
€200m in capital remained unspent by the Department of Housing at the end of June, despite housing targets set out by Minister O’Brien since 2020 being missed.
Building inflation, energy costs and a shortage of supplies are the reasons being given for the drop off in spending.
Ciaran Breen of Ciaran Breen Construction in Ennis disagrees that supply shortages are still an issue, but says private projects are being cancelled due to rising costs.
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