Ireland in a ‘race to the bottom’ on apartment standards, warns UCD housing expert

UCD architect Orla Hegarty warns that Ireland’s drive to boost apartment supply risks sacrificing quality, affordability, and livable communities

In Tuesday’s budget, one of the marquee announcements was a cut in the Vat rate on the sale of completed apartments from 13.5% to 9%.

Ireland has “entered a race to the bottom” when it comes to measures aimed at boosting the supply of apartments, and it risks creating communities “people don’t want to live in”, a top academic has said.

Orla Hegarty, an architect and assistant professor at the School of Architecture, Planning, and Environmental Policy in University College Dublin, was reacting to recent measures outlined by the Department of Housing along with the costly Vat rate reduction for apartments that was announced in this week’s budget.