Power in councillors’ hands: Ahern
Publishing figures showing a record 69,000 house completions last year, Junior Environment Minister Noel Ahern said only one-in-five applications for one-off housing is refused and outside of Dublin, almost 60% of housing is once-off.
Mr Ahern said there was a lot of fuss about one-off housing, particularly outside of Dublin, but by influencing and amending the county development plan within guidelines, councillors could ensure a balance was achieved.
"Councillors often don't appreciate the power they have. They should make their input at an earlier level," he said.
While in favour of people from rural areas being able to build houses, Mr Ahern said he was not in favour of the development of large numbers of holiday homes.
"You cannot allow a situation where every Dublin person has a one-off house in the scenic place of their choice," he added.
In an increase of almost 20% on the previous year, there were 68,819 houses and apartments built last year the ninth straight year for record output in house-building figures.
In Dublin, there was a 14% rise in completions, with 14,394 units, and in the Greater Dublin area 22,852 houses were built an increase of 10.5%.
In Co Cork, 6,325 homes were completed the largest number for any local authority area while in Cork city, 1,053 houses were built.
Mr Ahern said: "This record-breaking output is proof that the various government measures in housing supply have been successful and will continue to be so," he said.
According to Mr Ahern, demand is extremely high, particularly among 24-25 year olds.
"They are the people who are setting up nest on their own. As people get older, there is less demand for houses," he said.
He also said the price of houses won't change or drop until supply meets demand.
However, he admitted the dividend from low insurance rates and government policies had not resulted in lower prices and that profits had ended up in developers' hands.
