Cork developer Michael O’Flynn hits out at local authorities over dearth of zoned land for housing

Michael O'Flynn: 'Without more zoned land, we won’t be able to build at the level that’s required to meet the housing demand in this country.'

Cork property developer Michael O’Flynn has warned of a lack of zoned land for housing across the country and said the government will not meet its targets until it is increased.

Mr O’Flynn, who leads one of the country's largest house-building companies, has called for a national audit of all zoned land, as he criticised local authorities for failing to zone more land for housing.

“Without more zoned land, we won’t be able to build at the level that’s required to meet the housing demand in this country,” Mr O’Flynn said.

“At this moment in time, companies like ours don’t have enough zoned land. It’s as simple as that.

“We have the experience and the track record, and we want to apply that to as many projects as possible, but we can’t do it without our core raw material.”

Audit of local authorities

In a speech announcing the building of 542 new homes in Dublin, Mr O’Flynn took aim at local authorities who have failed to increase the provision of zoned land.

He said some local authorities had chosen to “ignore” the Government’s instructions, while others were bringing forward land which will “not deal with the emergency housing crisis”.

Last year, minister for housing James Browne wrote to all local authorities and instructed them to zone significantly more land for housing.

However, only Mayo and Waterford councils had completed this process as of February, with Mr Browne threatening “serious measures” to make councils comply.

Mr O’Flynn said any new land zoned by local authorities needed to pass a viability test and be made available in the short term.

He said many councils would fail those tests.

The Cork-based developer called for a national audit of local authorities to examine whether they are taking the government’s instructions seriously.

Mr O’Flynn said the Government should deliver emergency legislation to force local authorities to zone land.

Mr O’Flynn said:

I’m utterly convinced that we’re not going to fix the zoning issue now, having seen how some local authorities are performing, without the Government taking a direct hand.

However, Mr O’Flynn cautioned against stripping away zoning powers from local authorities altogether.

“Nationally, you have all the big parties in Government saying we have to zone more land.

“Then, on the ground, you have a lot of councillors who I hope don’t vote against the rezoning proposed, but I think it’s highly likely this could happen.

“There’s a very serious issue there between the top of government and councillors. I understand their predicament but at the end of the day, it’s the common good we should all be dealing with.

“If we don’t, this crisis continues.”

Housing Commission report

He also called for the government to consider re-examining the Housing Commission report, saying there had been “a huge amount of time” put into its recommendations.

“I do think there’s a lot of merit in that commission report that might be worth opening some of the pages on again,” Mr O’Flynn said.

Mr O’Flynn said the massive housing deficit, as outlined by the report, required emergency measures to tackle.

The report set out there is currently a deficit of 256,000 homes in the State.

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On the impact that rising oil costs are having on housing development, Mr O’Flynn said every developer in the country was seeing their costs rise.

“It’s inevitable, because we are so dependent on transport,” Mr O’Flynn said.

Asked if the Government was concerned about a slowdown in development because of the war in Iran, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said all industries are being impacted.

“And we've got to monitor those impacts, get the measurement of them, and see how best we can respond,” Mr Martin said.