Housing Minister looks to reduce minimum apartment size to cut cost of construction

The Journal

06-07-2025

HOUSING MINISTER JAMES Browne wants to change the rules for new apartment buildings in a bid to reignite construction in the sector.
It is understood that Browne is bringing the proposals to Cabinet this week to make apartments more attractive for developers by altering certain requirements around minimum sizes and communal facilities, with the number of flats in the pipeline drying up
according to recent figures
.
These moves will seek to improve the viability of apartment building by seeking to address higher development costs, reducing costs per unit, according to a housing source.
The proposed changes, contained in the Planning Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2025) bill, are understood to be aiming for a €50,000 to €100,000 cost reduction per apartment.
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Browne has flagged for some weeks that he has been looking at the issues raised by the construction sector and developers with him around apartment viability,
inviting developers to express interest in apartment building last month
.
He also recently has unveiled plans that would see see rents for newly built apartments
tied to the rate of inflation rather than capped at 2%
.
The drafted guidelines in the latest plan are informed by a costings project undertaken by the Land Development Agency (LDA), which looked at the layout and design of individual of units and ⁠the provision communal facilities.
The changes included in Browne's reforms include
- Apartment mix:
to allow more one-bedroom apartments and studios in a building;
- Communal facilities:
such community facilities within apartment schemes will not be required on a mandatory basis, in a bid to improve the viability of the development;
- Minimum sizes of apartments:
the current rules require for the majority of apartments within a scheme to exceed minimum size by 10%. The new guidelines reduce this requirement from the majority to a minimum of 25% of apartments;
- Dual aspect ratios:
the current guidelines require at least 33% dual aspect units in urban locations and 50% in suburban locations to be dual aspect – meaning it has windows on at least two external walls. The new guidelines create a single standard of 25%.
While there are changes proposed to community facilities, like garden spaces, it is understood that Browne is to stress to Cabinet colleagues that there will be no downgrading to fire standards, accessibility standards or key environmental standards in the new apartment blocks.
This also refers to private open space rules for apartments, with no changes to the recommended sizes of balconies and terraces proposed in the minister's measures.
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