Written answers
Monday, 8 September 2025
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Departmental Functions
Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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1148. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he will publish the promised updated planning guidelines for rural houses for a period of public consultation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45202/25]
John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Since the publication of the current Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in 2005 (which continue to have effect in addition to subsequent clarifications and national policy changes in the National Planning Framework) there have been important changes to our planning system. Most notably, obligations under European Directives and international agreements relating to the management and protection of the environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change have become more central to the operation of the planning system.
Updated Rural Housing Guidelines are currently being considered by my Department. The updated guidelines will expand on the high level spatial planning policy of the National Planning Framework (NPF), in particular on National Policy Objective (NPO) 28 which relates to rural housing. This objective makes a clear policy distinction between rural areas under urban influence (i.e. areas within the commuter catchment of cities, large towns and centres of employment) on the one hand, and structurally weaker rural areas where population levels may be low or declining, on the other. NPO 28 is also aligned with the established approach whereby considerations of social or economic need are to be applied by planning authorities in rural areas under urban influence.
The draft Rural Housing Guidelines will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing, based on the high level policy framework set by the NPF. The guidelines will continue to allow county development plans to provide for housing in the countryside based on the considerations detailed in NPO 28 of the NPF, and will also highlight the need to manage development in certain areas, such as the areas around cities and larger towns and environmentally sensitive areas, in order to avoid over-development.
While planning policy is a national, as opposed to an EU competence, due care is being taken to ensure the updated guidelines will not operate to conflict with fundamental EU freedoms, comply with EU environmental legislative requirements and have due regard to decisions of the European Court of Justice. The draft planning guidelines will address these complex environmental and legal issues, while also providing a framework for the sustainable management of housing in rural areas.
Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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1149. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to set out concisely the delegated sanction that local authorities have to purchase second-hand acquisitions and the categories of housing involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45203/25]
James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has provided €325 million to support a second-hand acquisitions programme in 2025. The programme supports acquisitions addressing priority categories of need including -
- exits from homeless services,
- tenancy sustainment (tenant in situ),
- people with a disability and older persons requiring urgent housing responses, and
- Buy and Renew acquisitions tackling vacancy.
Local authorities have delegated sanction to pursue such acquisitions where the all-in cost of such homes is in line with my Department's acquisition cost guidelines. Prior Department approval may be required where the cost exceeds the guideline costs.
For Buy and Renew acquisitions, the all-in cost includes the purchase price, associated fees, and the cost of refurbishment works. Minimal essential refurbishment costs may also be included for acquisitions supporting households to exit homelessness and priority categories including older people and persons with disabilities, care leavers, etc.
Generally, refurbishment costs are not an eligible cost for tenant in situ acquisitions. Immediate essential repairs should not be required given these properties benefit from significant Exchequer funded rent supports every week, are legally required to meet the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019, and are inspected by local authorities to ensure they meet such standards. That said, claims for refurbishment works on properties acquired in the period to end 2024 are being reimbursed to local authorities this year.
Local authorities can also enter into financial commitments for 2026 to a value of up to 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This will allow priority acquisitions to continue in the closing months of 2025, with certainty on funding availability in 2026, should such purchases not complete this year.
I have also recently secured a further €50 million as part of the National Development Plan capital funding process to expand the second-hand acquisitions programme this year. I intend this funding to be ringfenced and target acquisitions that support households, primarily larger families with children, to exit long-term emergency accommodation arrangements. Allocations will be advised to the relevant local authorities shortly.
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