Building more studio apartments than one-bedroom units could save developers €41k, says housing department

Apartment at Grand Canal Dock in Dublin. Changes are also being made to the minimum requirements for apartments to be dual aspect — falling to 25% of units within a development from between 33% and 50%. Picture: © RollingNews.ie

Increasing the number of smaller studio apartments compared to one-bedroom units in new housing developments could save builders over €41,000 per unit, the department of housing has said.

Individual measures within the Government’s new planning guidelines for apartment developments estimate that developers could make thousands of euros in savings, including through reducing balconies and making individual units smaller.

A report by the department of housing, based on research by the Land Development Agency, outlines that changing a typical one-bed apartment to a smaller studio apartment could cut the cost per unit by €41,000.

The new guidelines reduced the minimum size of studio apartments to 32 sq m — from the previous minimum size of 37sq m. The report said: 

Enabling the provision of a greater proportion of studio; three-person two bedroom, and four-person three bedroom units in a scheme, will reduce the cost of each unit of each type provided by €30,000-€41,000,” according to the report.

It found that, under previous guidelines, reducing a one-bedroom apartment to a studio apartment would save €30,000 per unit.

This means an additional €11,000 could be saved under new guidelines.

Other cost-cutting measures include the reduction in the number of balconies required in apartment blocks, under specific circumstances. This is only if the complex has “high-quality” communal spaces, or if the development is close to main roads or is a taller building with high-wind conditions.

The report said the cost of the most efficient balcony type, a protruding balcony, ranges from €11,000 for 5sq m or €13,000 for 7sq m.

More expensive balconies, such as inset or recessed balconies, can cost as much as €22,000, the report states.

Changes are also being made to the minimum requirements for apartments to be dual aspect — falling to 25% of units within a development from between 33% and 50%.

The report estimates there would be a “wide range” of savings, due to the differing types of dual aspect units. This would range from €6,000 for offset dual aspect houses, or between €15,000-€20,000 for a through-dual aspect apartment.

The Government’s new guidelines also allow for no longer requiring a mandatory cultural floorspace within an apartment development.

According to the report, delivering such infrastructure can cost between €10,000 and €15,000 per unit, but it is “heavily dependent on specifics of the scheme and the needs of the location”.

The data was provided to TDs and senators on the Oireachtas housing committee and is a summary of research carried out by the Land Development Agency.

However, the research itself has not been provided to the committee.

It comes as the chief executive of Threshold, John-Mark McCafferty, told the housing committee on Tuesday of his own experience living in a single aspect apartment.

I myself had a single-aspect apartment. It’s kind of grim in the winter actually. 

It had a north eastern aspect. Not somewhere you’d want to spend the rest of your days,” Mr McCafferty said.

“I understand the overall objective of Government to try and stimulate supply, but I would really caution whether some of those measures have gone too far in terms of impeding people’s quality of life.”

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