'There’s permission for 10,000 homes in Kildare that have not been built'
Planning permission exists for about 10,000 homes across County Kildare that have not been built.
That is the estimate put forward by local politician Bill Clear.
The Social Democrats councillor asked for information about the amount of unbuilt residential units that have been approved but not started in Kildare and “in particular permissions of over ten units.”
He said KCC and the councillors are “doing their bit” to provide housing.
Rather than continuing to rezone land for housing, he said, efforts should be made to encourage those with permission for apartments or houses to start building.
Cllr Clear said one site he is aware of is being developed while another “has cows on it.”
Independent councillor Padraig McEvoy said the availability of information “needs to be enhanced with this type of information.”
KCC official Amy Granville told the council meeting some delays can be attributed to a need for infrastructure but she said housing is being delivered in Kildare.
KCC official Eoghan Ryan reported that a definitive answer to the question is unavailable and would require a “manual trawl” through applications.
He questioned the accuracy of the figure of 10,000.
He also said any housing development can be subject to change permissions through the lifetime of five years and “there is a strong chance of double counting units when this happens.”
There are some 5,150 live active planning permissions for all types of development.
An intention to start works has been received for about 1,900 of these - but may not be for the full development.
Many of the remaining 3,250 permissions do not require start notices.
When a developer commences a phase of a larger development, a commencement notice needs to be submitted but this just informs KCC of the intention to start - but does not mean the developer has actually started work.
Also, some of the larger developments may have commenced part of the development but
may be required to submit a new permission to complete if the permission expires (and this can result in double counting).
Over the past five years KCC has granted permission for nearly 14,000 houses and apartments.
This is addition to a number of strategic housing developments awaiting decision with An Bord Pleanála - a further 1,486 units. SHDs are developments of at least 100 units which, controversially, go directly to APB rather than the local authority for consideration.