Faster and More Efficient Social Housing Delivery

To meet Ireland’s growing housing needs, the Government is making it easier and faster to build more social homes—especially larger developments in cities and towns.

Right now, most social housing projects built by local authorities have 20 homes or fewer. While helpful, these small projects limit how many homes can be delivered overall. Larger developments will be key to meeting future targets.

• A new ‘single stage approval’ process has been introduced for social housing projects worth up to €200 million, speeding up planning and delivery.
• All new projects must follow national design standards, including the Design Manual for Quality Housing and the Employer’s Requirements for Detailed Design.

This new approach will:

• Speed up approvals by removing the need for repeated detailed submissions.
• Give local authorities and housing bodies better control over costs.
• Help the construction industry with more efficient planning and tendering.
• Encourage the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), such as off-site building, to deliver homes faster and more sustainably.

The Department of Housing is also promoting the use of Design and Build contracts, which combine design and construction into one streamlined process. This approach:

• Saves time—up to 9–18 months, depending on the project.
• Offers greater cost certainty.
• Supports wider use of MMC.
• Is now being rolled out through regional frameworks to help local authorities deliver more homes, more quickly.

The Government will prioritise this method across all delivery partners to speed up housing delivery throughout the lifetime of the plan.