Limerick mayor to fund review examining why housing is 'so far below' county's needs

Since the adoption of the Development Plan in 2022, only 34% of the target number of homes have been completed. 'To catch up, we must now increase delivery by 300%.'

John Moran has announced he will use his mayoral fund to commission an independent evaluation into why housing in Limerick is “poor”.

The mayor confirmed he will be asking for cross-party collaboration with the independent evaluation, which will examine why housing delivery has been “so far below” Limerick’s needs — and what can be done to speed up delivery.

Since the adoption of the Development Plan in 2022, a total of 2,876 homes have been completed — only 34% of the target of 8,443. Mr Moran said that after over a year in his mayoral role, he has learned a lot on understanding Limerick’s housing issues.

“I realise some think that what I have been pushing forward is radical in recent historic terms. But we need radical. We now have a new Director of Service for Housing so the time is ripe for a stock-take,” Mr Moran said. 

"I would now like to see an independent review of historic decisions, my new courses of action and any other alternative paths to be taken."

He pointed out a “bright future” cannot be built in Limerick by “ignoring or misunderstanding the reasons for the failures of the past”.

“Overall, the total completions across the city and county during the first three years of the [Development] Plan are less than one year’s housing target. That legacy is why we now face such severe pressure.” 

He noted Limerick was left well short of a robust pipeline of large-scale planning permissions going into 2025, despite the availability of significant State-owned land.

Mr Moran said that while Limerick delivers at most 800 to 1,000 homes a year, “we need at least” 2,599 annually just to meet existing targets.

He added:

And in truth, to address pent-up demand, we need closer to 4,000 homes each year. To catch up, we must now increase delivery by 300%, totaling 15,000 homes above current delivery levels over five years. 

"That task is enormous and will require everyone working together."

“This is about accountability, learning, and ensuring we keep focus on the important issues, do not make the same mistakes as before and use our scarce resources wisely. 

"But we cannot pause urgent work while the review proceeds. Any supply that can be accelerated must be accelerated now while we try and manage the hardships caused to households by the current crisis.” 

The Mayor confirmed that he will issue an analytical blog on his own website in the next few days, to outline further data and context.