Government set to double down on smaller apartment sizes despite European court challenge

THE GOVERNMENT IS set to solidify its controversial changes that allow for smaller apartments, despite the regulations having been referred to European courts.

It is understood that the regulations will be a carbon copy of the apartment guidelines introduced in July last year, which aimed to boost apartment building by reducing the sizes of the homes.

The government hoped this would make apartments more attractive for developers, following persistent complaints from the construction industry over an inability to make a viable profit from such projects.

The issue has been the focus of construction industry lobbying, with figures earlier this year showing some 40,000 apartments have ‘dormant’ planning permissions around the country.

Housing Minister James Browne is expected to bring the measure to Cabinet later on Wednesday.

The government believes that by implementing the apartment standards in a National Planning Statement, it will provide certainty to builders on future apartment developments by standardising the regulations nationwide.

Under the plans announced by Browne last July, some of the biggest cost savings for each individual apartment will be found by cutting down on floor space. They also decrease the minimum apartment size to approximately the size of two and a half parking spaces.

Fewer windows and balconies would also be required under the new plans, while a requirement to have indoor communal or cultural facilities has been scrapped.

But these measures were challenged when a judicial review was taken by a number of city and county councillors and the late Irish Times journalist Frank McDonald.

The politicians involved were Dublin councillors Darragh Moriarty (Labour) and David Healy (Green Party), Cork councillor Dan Boyle (Green Party) and Kildare Independent Padraig McEvoy, represented by solicitors FP Logue, a law firm specialising in planning and environmental cases.

Late last year, that court challenge resulted in the case being moved to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg to determine legal issues around making apartments smaller.

The Irish High Court also saw the government’s legal team agree to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to see whether the reduced sizes are in line with existing regulations.

Speaking last Sunday on RTÉ’s This Week, Browne blamed the legal challenge for having “held up the delivery of thousands of apartments in this country”.

By cementing the standards in a National Planning Statement, Browne added, it would mean the “same rules and same guidelines to give comfort” to developers.