Ministers Browne and Cummins publish new Planning Guidelines to facilitate additional zoning in support of accelerated housing delivery
- Published on: 29 July 2025
- Last updated on: 29 July 2025
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, and the Minister of State with responsibility for Planning, John Cummins, today issued Guidelines instructing local authorities to update housing targets in line with the revised National Planning Framework (NPF). This is a key step in achieving a significant acceleration in housing delivery.
The Ministerial Guidelines identify the national housing growth requirements identified for each local authority based on the Revised NPF, which are to plan for approximately 55,000 new homes per annum on average between now and 2034. Further, an additional headroom of 50% will be available to local authorities enabling them to zone for a total of up to 83,000 units per annum. Each local authority is expected to reflect these new targets by updating their individual development plans.
While they will be kept under review and updated again before 2030, the Guidelines set out the housing demand scenario to 2040 for each local authority, based on ESRI modelling of population growth and structural housing demand and assumptions relating to unmet demand. Local Authorities can now begin the process of assessing their existing development plans in order to reflect the revised figures in their development plans.
Issuing the Guidelines, Minister Browne emphasised:
“We need to see a significant step change in the delivery of housing in Ireland. The new Guidelines set out the need to plan for approximately 55,000 additional households per annum on average to 2040, and this reflects our government’s commitment to accelerated growth in new homes as our population continues to grow and change. Moreover, in recognising the importance of having a sufficient amount of zoned land, I have made available an additional 50% headroom for local authorities above the base requirement of 55,000, enabling zoning for a total of 83,000 units per annum.
"It is imperative that local authorities now commence the process of revising their individual development plans as quickly as possible to ensure that sufficient zoned and serviced land is available for housing development. This will enable the full integration of the updated housing growth requirements into city and county development plans.
"I also intend to undertake a process of monitoring zoned and serviced land to ensure its availability does not become a barrier to planning and development.
"Today’s development is the latest measure I have taken to accelerate housing delivery and I will continue to use every available lever to do so. I am ensuring our new planning legislation is being fully implemented as quickly as possible. I recently launched An Coimisiún Pleanála to speed up the planning process. I have introduced legislation to allow for the extension of many planning permissions to ensure we realise the full potential of what we can build. I have announced the establishment a new Housing Activation Office to unblock obstacles. Reforms I’ve made to the rental sector will protect tenants and incentivise more building of rental accommodation. In addition, I am publishing quarterly social housing delivery statistics so we can see where delivery is being achieved.”
Minister of State Cummins added:
“Local authorities now have clarity on what land they need to zone to reach their housing growth requirements in order to deliver much-needed homes for individuals and families across the country.
“The Guidelines also enable Local Authorities to apply headroom of up to 50% - providing the scope for ‘additional provision’ in excess of the baseline housing growth requirement. This is in recognition of the urgent need to increase housing delivery and because for a variety of reasons, a significant proportion of zoned lands are not activated over the period of a development plan.
“It is imperative that local authorities act as soon as possible on updating their city and county development plans, bringing forward further land for much needed residential development.
“Both Minister Browne and I are committed to using every lever available to us to ensure we ramp up the delivery of homes across the country and will continue to move quickly to implement changes which will yield a positive outturn in the time ahead.”
A copy of the guidelines can be accessed here: Section 28 Guidelines - NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements.
The Guidelines replace the Housing Supply Target Methodology for Development Planning, Guidelines for Planning Authorities, published in December 2020 as Ministerial Guidelines under Section 28 of the Act.
A breakdown of the new housing targets per local authority can be viewed in the table below.
Annual housing targets per local authority
|
2025 to 2034 |
||
|
Local Authority |
Existing Annual Housing Growth Requirement (Housing Supply Target 2020) |
New Annual New Housing Growth Requirement to 2034 |
|
Carlow County Council |
406 |
518 |
|
Cavan County Council |
479 |
666 |
|
Clare County Council |
550 |
985 |
|
Cork City Council |
2,032 |
2,706 |
|
Cork County Council |
2,437 |
3,837 |
|
Donegal County Council |
965 |
1,283 |
|
Dublin City Council |
4,861 |
8,196 |
|
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown |
1,908 |
3,585 |
|
Fingal County Council |
1,717 |
3,153 |
|
Galway City Council |
754 |
790 |
|
Galway County Council |
1,831 |
2,008 |
|
Kerry County Council |
690 |
1,167 |
|
Kildare County Council |
1,535 |
2,755 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
618 |
948 |
|
Laois County Council |
468 |
1,244 |
|
Leitrim County Council |
124 |
201 |
|
Limerick City & County Council |
2,193 |
2,599 |
|
Longford County Council |
333 |
428 |
|
Louth County Council |
956 |
1,677 |
|
Mayo County Council |
501 |
1,111 |
|
Meath County Council |
1,090 |
2,942 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
306 |
751 |
|
Offaly County Council |
439 |
891 |
|
Roscommon County Council |
285 |
392 |
|
Sligo County Council |
468 |
672 |
|
South Dublin County Council |
1,932 |
3,270 |
|
Tipperary County Council |
605 |
1,008 |
|
Waterford City & County Council |
705 |
1,144 |
|
Westmeath County Council |
548 |
983 |
|
Wexford County Council |
578 |
1,622 |
|
Wicklow County Council |
745 |
2,068 |
|
Total |
33,059 |
55,598 |