Rogue developers could be stopped from getting future planning permission under SF legislation 

Sinn Féin is looking to introduce legislation that would see building developers, with a history of defective building, blocked from securing planning permission in the future. 

Sinn Féin has put forward new laws that would ensure developers with a history of defective building can be blocked from securing planning permission for new developments.

The party has launched a new bill that would allow the past bad building by rogue developers to be considered when any new planning permissions are decided.

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said: "We have to get tough with rogue builders, full stop. If a builder understands that past bad defective practice, as confirmed through legal breaches of the building control acts, could prejudice future planning applications, then that does send a very strong signal that there is zero-tolerance for building defects."

The proposed legislation would amend the Planning and Development Act.

Mr Ó Broin said this change to planning law is necessary so local councils and An Bord Pleanála have the power to say no to new planning applications where the developer or builder has a history of bad building practices.

“We have seen how negligence or failure to build to an adequate standard has affected thousands of homeowners across the state. From Priory Hall, the Leinster pyrite defects, the pyrite and mica defective block scandal, fire safety and other structural defects in apartments and duplexes and dodgy home extensions, homeowners have been left questioning how these homes were allowed to be built in the first place.

“This bill is a small but important measure to put a stop to rogue builders with a record of bad building by enabling local councils and An Bord Pleanála to say no."

Oversight

It comes after the Irish Examiner  revealed that remedial works on 40 schools with structural and fire safety defects have cost more than the original €160m construction bill.

Mr Ó Broin said this is another example of why the light-touch regulation needs to be tightened.

"Some of these buildings are still not safe. Children are being educated in buildings that are not compliant with basic fire safety standards and that's just the beginning of it. So unless we start getting tough with this stuff and regulating for full compliance of building control and fire safety regulations, these things will continue into the future."

He said that if the correct oversights are applied building defects should never arise in schools, social housing or other publicly funded developments.

"Where were the clerks of work? Where where are the independent inspection sheets? Were the authorities supplied with adequate staff to do their own independent inspections? The answer to all those questions is no, they weren't there, they weren't doing their job and that's why the taxpayer has to foot the bill," Mr Ó Broin said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing identified a number of sections in the existing act which, they said, allow planners to take into account previous projects by applicants that "have not been satisfactorily completed", as well as instances of non-compliance with the Planning Act. 

"The government is implementing an ongoing building control reform agenda, with initiatives that provide a comprehensive roadmap for embedding a culture of real compliance with building regulations within the construction industry," the spokesperson added.