On July 29, 2025, the Ministers for Housing and Planning issued revised Section 28 Planning Guidelines instructing local authorities to update housing targets in line with the revised National Planning Framework (NPF).
- These guidelines revised the new national housing growth requirements for each local authority, with a plan to deliver approximately 55,000 new homes per year from 2025 to 2034. The previous requirement during the last revision in 2020 is 33,000 per year.
A copy of the guidelines can be accessed here – Section 28 Guidelines – NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements.
Further, an additional headroom of 50% will be available to local authorities. What this means is that local authorities will be allowed to zone more land that could enable them to achieve a combined 83,000 homes per year with enough political & construction willpower.
Each local authority is expected to reflect these new targets by updating their individual development plans.
New Annual Housing Targets per Local Authority : 2025 – 2040.
As seen on Appendix 1 Gov.IE.
| 2025-2034 | 2035-2040 | ||
| Local Authority | Existing Annual Housing Growth Requirement (Housing Supply Target 2020) | New Annual New Housing Growth Requirement to 2034 | New Annual New Housing Growth Requirement 2035 to 2040 |
| Carlow County Council | 406 | 518 | 507 |
| Cavan County Council | 479 | 666 | 559 |
| Clare County Council | 550 | 985 | 687 |
| Cork City Council | 2,032 | 2,706 | 2539 |
| Cork County Council | 2,437 | 3,837 | 3045 |
| Donegal County Council | 965 | 1,283 | 1206 |
| Dublin City Council | 4,861 | 8,196 | 6075 |
| Dun Laoghaire Rathdown | 1,908 | 3,585 | 2384 |
| Fingal County Council | 1,717 | 3,153 | 2146 |
| Galway City Council | 754 | 790 | 942 |
| Galway County Council | 1,831 | 2,008 | 2288 |
| Kerry County Council | 690 | 1,167 | 862 |
| Kildare County Council | 1,535 | 2,755 | 1918 |
| Kilkenny County Council | 618 | 948 | 772 |
| Laois County Council | 468 | 1,244 | 585 |
| Leitrim County Council | 124 | 201 | 155 |
| Limerick City & County Council | 2,193 | 2,599 | 2740 |
| Longford County Council | 333 | 428 | 416 |
| Louth County Council | 956 | 1,677 | 1195 |
| Mayo County Council | 501 | 1,111 | 626 |
| Meath County Council | 1,090 | 2,942 | 1362 |
| Monaghan County Council | 306 | 751 | 382 |
| Offaly County Council | 439 | 891 | 549 |
| Roscommon County Council | 285 | 392 | 356 |
| Sligo County Council | 468 | 672 | 585 |
| South Dublin County Council | 1,932 | 3,270 | 2414 |
| Tipperary County Council | 605 | 1,008 | 756 |
| Waterford City & County Council | 705 | 1,144 | 881 |
| Westmeath County Council | 548 | 983 | 685 |
| Wexford County Council | 578 | 1,622 | 722 |
| Wicklow County Council | 745 | 2,068 | 931 |
| Total | 33,059 | 55,598 | 41,312 |
Why Increased Zoning Does Not Guarantee Increased Construction.
While I am on board with zoning more land for housing development, it does not solve the bigger bottlenecks in Ireland’s housing supply pipeline.
According to Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers, the delays are more structural:
“The planning and consenting process for critical infrastructure takes between three and five years longer due to judicial reviews.”
Other systemic challenges include:
- Regulatory and legal overload – Developers face complex and inconsistent planning decisions.
- Understaffed agencies – Public bodies struggle to process large-scale housing requests quickly.
But after researching this further, I also learned that together with these planning changes, the government is also rolling out complementary measures:
- Launching An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanala until 18/06/2025) to accelerate planning decisions, and introduce legislation to extend expiring planning permissions. (Now, we just need to wait and see if this recent name change is a sign of better implementation to come or if it is simply cosmetic).
- Establishing a Housing Activation Office to tackle bottlenecks.
How Can Modular Help? And How does Modular Social Housing Fit In?
I will continue to preach that Modular and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offer faster and scalable alternatives to standard homes. This makes them especially suitable for public and social housing.
Here’s how modular homes can bridge the gap between land zoning and actual housing delivery.
| Modular Benefit | Impact on Social Housing Targets |
|---|---|
| Speed of Construction | – Build time reduced by up to 50% !! – Enabling quicker housing delivery on zoned land. |
| Offsite Manufacturing | – Reduces strain on local infrastructure, i.e, road blockages and traffic detours – Reduces strain on workforce shortages because a big portion of the building process, ie. framing, takes place in a factory with automation and specialised equipment. . |
| Quality Control & Sustainability | – Factory settings allow for high standards and better energy performance. |
| Lower Onsite Disruption | – Minimal interruption/delays by weather due to factory setting – Ideal for urban infill or council-owned plots with limited access. |
| Cost Predictability | Helps local authorities better manage budgets and scaling. |
What Needs to Happen for Modular to Truly Work?
While modular housing is part of the solution, it cannot thrive without State support and structural reform:
- Fast-Track Planning.
Special status for modular public housing could remove months, if not years of red tape.
2. Standardised Procurement Frameworks
Pre-approved modular providers (like CPAC Modular or others) should be part of every council’s toolkit.
3. Public Information Campaigns
Just like what I am trying to do with this website. Ireland still battles scepticism about modular builds, and government must lead the charge in public education.
4. Integration into Local Development Plans
Local authorities could earmark newly zoned land specifically for modular or rapid-delivery projects.
Final Thoughts
The new planning rules show that the State does acknowledge the scale of the problem. But with everything I have observed over the years, zoning land isn’t enough. Without reducing planning delays and capacity issues, the goals in the National Planning Framework will remain just goals.
Modular social housing isn’t a silver bullet. However, with clear leadership, proper funding, and accelerated planning approval, I strongly believe that it could be the tool Ireland needs to turn planning promises into more, real homes for its residents.
