Housing Minister announces new measures to speeding up social homes
James Browne's comments came as he brought to Cabinet yesterday a suite of new measures aimed at speeding up the delivery of social homes. Among the plans approved by ministers is a proposal to condense the approval process for social housing projects from four stages to one.
The measures will also mandate the use of specific design layouts for all new-build social housing projects being delivered by public bodies, to achieve 'value for money, and to promote greater use of Modern Methods of Construction' (MMC). Developers who use the State's new standardised design templates for social homes will be granted planning permission 'an awful lot quicker', the Housing Minister has said. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photo
Mr Browne said yesterday that local authorities and approved housing bodies will be able to choose from a portfolio of 60 design templates, with the new arrangements to take effect from quarter three of this year. The Housing Minister said the designs are of 'very high quality' and will deliver 'uniformity' in the sector.
'Where delays come in [in social housebuilding] is where local authorities want a piece of vernacular, or want to change the number of windows, for example. That sounds fine except it leads to extraordinary delays, because then every window has to be measured by the Department of Housing.
'And I would be actually hoping that private builders would copy these designs as well, because they should be able to get through planning an awful lot quicker,' Mr Browne said. Pic: Getty Images
The minister said that when the Government delivered large amounts of social housing in the past, there was a level of 'consistency' nationwide in terms of how the houses were designed.
'And that's really important for builders who want to tender for these projects, but also for MMC,' he said.
MMC is a broad term that captures a diverse range of building processes and products. The term is generally used to describe construction which takes place in a factory setting as opposed to on-site. It includes the construction of full 3-D units or modules.
According to Mr Browne, the widespread use of MMC will help speed up the delivery of housing and reduce the environmental impact of the residential construction sector.
'I believe that this can be a game changer in terms of that delivery from social housing,' he said.
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