A TOTAL of 28,786 units in housing and apartment developments are awaiting a planning permission decision from An Bord Pleanála, new analysis has found.

The annual constructor sector report from consultants Mitchell McDermott found that 59% of Strategic Housing Developments (SHDs) applications before An Bord Plenála last year did not receive a decision.

The SHD system was designed as a fast-track planning process for schemes of 100 apartments or houses. 

The analysis found that the Bord granted permission for just 26% of applications, or almost 13,000 units. 

“Everyone knows the Bord has had its issues this year but to have so many units deplayed amid a housing crisis is unacceptable,” Paul Mitchell, one of the authors of the report, said. 

“You would imagine this backlog could easily be addressed by drafting in additional resources from private practice here or from the UK and we believe this should be done straight away,” he said. 

There was a 79% drop in the number of judicial reviews taken against SHDs last year. Mitchell said the firm found the reduction was due in large measure to the large drop in the number of decisions being made by An Board Pleanála on SHDs. 

The report found that a total of 31,125 units in SHDs which received planning permission have been subjected to judicial reviews over the past five years. 

“Just 10% or so have gone ahead, 10,727 units were quashed, while 17,805 are still awaiting a decision from the courts – a total of 28,532,” Mitchell said. 

A second of the report focused on tracking the number of SHDs which received planning permission between 2018 and 2022 but have not yet commenced. 

It found that of the 103,057 SHD units which received planning permission during this period, 28,755 (28%) have not yet commenced. 

Construction costs

The report also found that the construction costs of a two-bed mid-range apartment increased by 9.6% or between €21,000 to €25,000 last year.

The hard costs of building a two-bed, medium rise suburban apartment is now over €240,000, it found. 

The main contributors to the increase are mechanical and electrical services, up 18%, concrete, up 27%, brickwork, up 39%, and reinforcement steel, up 17%.

The €240,000 figure excludes indirect costs, parking, siteworks, margin and VAT.

If those are included the total cost of delivering the apartment is in the region of €460,000; the sales price would have to equal or exceed this.