The number of fast-tracked large housing and student accommodation schemes being developed is ramping up significantly and spreading to outside Dublin and the State’s larger cities, a planning conference has heard. SHD provides a special fast-track process for developments of more than 100 housing units, or student accommodation schemes involving more than 200 bed spaces. During 2018, ABP granted permission for schemes involving 7,102 housing units, and student accommodation involving 4,479 bed spaces. The body is making about 50 planning applications, and seeking a lesser number of compulsory purchase orders, each year. Maria Graham, assistant secretary with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, said there had been a “paradigm shift” in planning because the State’s planning and investment plans were now “completely aligned”.

Source: The Irish Times April 04, 2019 15:56 UTC