Latest news with #JAMESBrowne
The Journal
06-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Housing Minister looks to reduce minimum apartment size to cut cost of construction
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. Advertisement 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. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
01-07-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Browne: it will be 'difficult to prevent' hitting point where 5,000 children are homeless
HOUSING MINISTER JAMES Browne has said it will be 'difficult to prevent' reaching the point where 5,000 children in Ireland are homeless. The latest homelessness figures, released last week, showed a record number of 15,747 people living in homelessness in the State. Included among these are 4,844 children — 69 more than last month. Asked today by The Journal when we will see a drop in the number of people entering homelessness and if he expects to surpass the 5,000 threshold for child homelessness, Minister Browne said we're very close to it. 'The sense of direction, unfortunately, has been growing upwards, and we're very close to that 5,000. I don't want to see that threshold crossed, but it's going to be very difficult to prevent crossing over that 5,000, considering how close we are,' Browne said. 'No poor countries in the EU' The Housing Minister also elaborated on reports that the government is planning to tighten up rules around who can access homelessness services in the State. As reported by the Sunday Times at the weekend , the clampdown will impact migrants' access to social housing, prioritising people with 'strong, long-term connections to Ireland'. Access to emergency homeless accommodation will also be restricted. Advertisement Asked about this today, Minister Browne confirmed that he will be bringing forward measures to prioritise people who are 'actually living in the country' and who are 'habitually resident'. EU citizens who are homeless in Ireland will be asked to return to their home country, Browne said. Browne said this is already done on an administrative basis, but that this is not a 'sound way' to manage our housing services. He said the changes will give certainty to local authorities in relation to how they allocate services and that he thinks this is 'the right thing to do'. 'If somebody comes to Ireland from the European Union, there's no poor countries in the European Union, we would be asking people to return back to their own country if they are not in a position to meet the requirements under EU law to be able to sustain themselves,' Browne said. 'We would facilitate them to return to their own country if they're not here on a legally backed basis in terms of being able to financially support themselves.' When it was put to him that this is a way to massage the homelessness figures by drastically reducing them, the Minister denied this charge. Last month's figures show that 51% of the 5,609 adults in emergency accommodation were Irish, while 21% (2,263 people) were from the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK. Some 3,031 people, 28%, were from outside the EEA. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Defective building blocks: redraft of Bill will provide 'fairness' to affected homeowners
HOUSING MINISTER JAMES Browne is to bring a memo to Cabinet today for priority redrafting of the Bill regarding remediation for homes affected by defective building blocks. Several thousands homes, many in Donegal but also in counties Mayo, Clare, Limerick, and Sligo, among others, have been affected by the crisis. In 2022, a Bill to provide remediation was enacted. The amendment today is designed to improve the efficiency and fairness of the current scheme. Advertisement The housing minister met with a number of groups in Letterkenny recently and visited some impacted properties, saying he 'wanted to act rapidly as a result of the meetings with families and advocacy groups'. Near the end of last year the government approved the increase of the grant available to homeowners whose properties were affected by defective building blocks from €420,000 to €460,000. The per square metre rates used in the scheme to calculate the grant available were also increased in that time. Browne's proposed amendments today would provide 'fairness' to impacted homeowners by allowing homeowners who faced higher construction costs before the amount was increased to avail of the increase. Similarly, the increase in the per square metre rates is now proposed to apply retrospectively to homeowners affected by higher construction costs. It is proposed that the increase in the scheme cap and rates would apply to all applicants that had incurred eligible costs since 29 March 2024. Read Next Related Reads Mica: How a campaign started around a Donegal kitchen table captured the nation's attention 'Totally and utterly ruined': The eight-year battle by homeowners affected by mica concrete block scandal It would also allow for the side by side construction of a new property while the affected property is retained in 'very limited circumstances for specific vulnerable homeowner families', bypassing strict legislative constraints in place. The period to complete works will be extended from 65 weeks to 130 weeks. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
