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The changes were brought to Cabinet today by Housing Minister James Browne. Alamy Stock Photo

Department of Housing did not consult with tenants on plans to shrink minimum apartment sizes

Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne said the changes would allow developers to build “glorified shoeboxes”.

THIS MORNING, THE government signed off on plans to drastically reduce the minimum standards for apartments in a bid to boost supply.

Under the changes, which take effect immediately, the minimum size of a studio apartment will be reduced from 37 sq m to 32 sq m, while developers will no longer have to provide a mix of unit sizes in apartment blocks. 

Fewer windows and balconies will also be required, while a requirement to have indoor ‘communal, community and cultural facilities’ has been scrapped.

The Department of Housing did not consult with tenant organisations, homeowner organisations or members of the public ahead of the changes.

It is understood the changes were kept under wraps due to the fact that they were “extremely commercially sensitive” and may have led to developers pausing building that is currently underway ahead of the changes being confirmed. 

As part of the changes signed off today, a rule that required that half of apartments in a development be somewhat bigger than the minimum standard has been reduced to 25 per cent. 

While another rule that required half of apartments in suburban developments and 33 per cent of apartments in urban developments to be ‘dual aspect’ (which means having windows that can be opened on at least two walls) has now been reduced to 25 per cent in all settings.

Housing Minister James Browne said the changes come in an effort to unblock blockages in apartment delivery.

He said he wants to clear away red tape and address “viability issues”, which he blames on delays in the housing system.

“We are taking decisive action, without compromising on any essential regulations, to ensure apartments are viable to build,” he said.

Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, the minister said apartment delivery in Dublin has “collapsed”. 

“We’ve looked at the housing delivery from last year, it was certainly lower than we hoped, lower than we expected, and it was very disappointing,” he added, arguing that the government has tied itself in “regulatory knots” in recent years. 

Department officials believe the changes announced today could lead to a cost reduction of between €50,000 and €100,000 per apartment. 

It was also confirmed today that apartment buildings that have already received planning permission but are not yet complete will not have to be sent back to the beginning of the planning process if they wish to tweak their designs to align with the new rules.

Reacting to the new rules, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said they prove that the government has been “captured by the institutional investor lobby”.

“This policy was tried and tested in 2018 by then Fine Gael Housing Minister, Eoghan Murphy. It was such a disaster that Darragh O’Brien reversed it in 2022.

“That government is reintroducing it again now shows the absolute poverty of ideas from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael when it comes to housing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the changes would allow developers to build “glorified shoeboxes”. 

“It will only result in increased profits for developers – and unaffordable apartments that nobody wants to live in,” he said. 

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    Mute Tim McCormack29
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    Nov 24th 2019, 7:13 PM

    They don’t build things there like the Romans did to last for millenia.

    111
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    Mute Pat Lonergan
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    Nov 24th 2019, 9:02 PM

    @Tim McCormack29: Not when the Mafia is building it.

    59
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    Mute Mike McGann
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    Nov 24th 2019, 10:22 PM

    @Pat Lonergan: smug and ignorant comment, some knowledge of topography rather than Netflix would be a plus.

    22
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    Mute Eugene Conroy
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    Nov 24th 2019, 7:03 PM

    Never happened before……must be climate change,

    45
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    Mute SF Knee Knockers
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    Nov 24th 2019, 8:30 PM

    @Eugene Conroy: comment deleted for stating climate has been changing since year dot !!!

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Nov 24th 2019, 11:08 PM

    @SF Knee Knockers: two words! “Happening faster”. Try and keep up.

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    Mute SF Knee Knockers
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    Nov 24th 2019, 11:34 PM

    @Paul Furey: faster than what…earth billions of years old..human records only for a few 100 years…climate has been changing forever.. faster slower faster.

    12
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    Mute .
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    Nov 24th 2019, 7:33 PM

    Ligurian infrastructure is in such a state. No area of europe has suffered so much with bridge collapses despite the fact that they pay the highest road tolls in Europe, and most of the motorways there consist vastly of viaducts like this, which were said to have been audited after the last collapse.

    32
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    Mute Conoroconnor
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    Nov 24th 2019, 7:41 PM

    @.: it’s probably the most corrupt country in the Europe. Millions of EU grant money has just disappeared into black holes and is untraceable.

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    Mute Robbie Clancy
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    Nov 24th 2019, 7:58 PM

    @Conoroconnor: I read about how mafia ran most of the construction in certain parts of Italy. Never had any competition so they where awarded all the civil contracts.

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    Mute Attilio
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    Nov 24th 2019, 8:09 PM

    @Conoroconnor: as an Italian myself I am afraid I have to agree. Left Italy decades ago but very little seems to have changed and corruption seems still incredibly widespread

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    Mute Shane McGrath
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    Nov 24th 2019, 8:41 PM

    @Robbie Clancy: No5nonly that but they provided sub-standard concrete and Steele to state projects and in turn bribed construction standards authority overseers to turn a blind eye. Modern Italy is crumbling. The motorways are the worst in western Europe.

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    Mute Conoroconnor
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    Nov 24th 2019, 10:07 PM

    @Attilio: the thing is, I love italy. A truly beautiful country with some of the most unspoiled countryside, incredible old walled towns, lovely people and the best food in the world. Such a shame.

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    Mute Mike McGann
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    Nov 24th 2019, 10:25 PM

    @Conoroconnor: well then jump in your Ferrari and enjoy some of the best roads, best scenery, best food by a mile, wine and best people. I’m not Italian but I have family there and I dislike it being disparaged despite it being 10 times the country ours is.

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    Mute Conoroconnor
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    Nov 24th 2019, 11:02 PM

    @Mike McGann: most of my italian friends would agree with my assessment of the corruption. Like I said, it’s a pity because it is otherwise such a great country & great people I’m not saying we are that much better, by the way. but I spoke with people in Apulia who were in awe of how Ireland has used it’s a EU Grant’s for redevelopment over the years, as over there the money just disappears with little or no obvious development having taken place. The mechanisms of the Italian state have also taken bureaucracy to a whole new level. These are the faults with the place, but I really love Italy and its people. In many ways, public transport for example, ithey way ahead of us. By the way, I go cycling there once a year and their smaller roads are in as bad of condition as ours, if not worse.

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    Mute Mjhint
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    Nov 24th 2019, 11:26 PM

    @Conoroconnor: Great country. I’m regularly there. Was only there last week. I’m I correct in saying this road from Genoa to Ventimiglia was constructed not long after WW2 originally. Are some of these structures from the 50s & 60s?

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    Mute Paraic
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    Nov 24th 2019, 9:14 PM

    For those putting this down to poor Italian infrastructure, this is also happening in the French Alps where least 2 people have died. There is an unprecedented level of flooding happening. Put this together with Venice recently and parts of England that experienced an absolute monumental deluge, and you have a pattern of highly unusual weather events that are fully predicted by climate change.
    https://amp.breakingnews.ie/world/two-dead-as-floods-hit-france-and-italy-966261.html

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Nov 25th 2019, 2:15 AM

    @Paraic: You must be racking up the brownie points with Cookie and Dana at Skeppie Science.

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    Mute Paraic
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    Nov 25th 2019, 7:50 AM

    @Tommy Roche: How many troll accounts is it now that you’ve racked up?

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    Mute ed w
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    Nov 24th 2019, 10:36 PM

    better get used to it whatever the reason the climate is a changing.

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    Mute HONEY BADGER180
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    Nov 25th 2019, 7:37 AM

    Made with mafia Concrete!!!!!!

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