Darragh O’Brien | Business Post

Plan to axe leased social housing is under ‘review’

Move comes despite Taoiseach’s promise to end controversial practice, and follows fresh €450 million state investment to lease 1,000 new homes

Vacant home revamp grant to be extended ‘almost nationwide’

€50,000 payout will now apply to city centre and rural properties which have been empty for two years and will be lived in by their owners

Government set to miss housing targets this year, new report warns

The Dublin Housing Delivery Group’s latest report, recently submitted to housing minister Darragh O’Brien, cites ‘evidence of a slowdown’ on some social housing projects and says ‘work has ceased on some sites’

‘Threat to public health and safety’: O’Brien green-lights cull of seagulls in his constituency

The move in Balbriggan, north Co Dublin, will involve breaking up the birds’ nests and removing eggs from March of next year

Report into alleged conflicts of interest at An Bord Pleanála referred to DPP and Gardaí

Senior Counsel Remy Farrell conducted review after allegations that the board’s former deputy chair, Paul Hyde, failed to declare conflicts of interest during the course of his work on planning decisions

Stopping the rot: could compulsory purchase orders be a solution for derelict properties?

Louth was once a trailblazer when it came to using compulsory purchase orders to bring vacant buildings back into use, but in recent times the programme has faltered, with no properties acquired this year

Smaller back gardens could reduce new house prices by 20%

New guidelines on high-density home building could mean that average prices fall to €310,000 if the size of gardens in newly built houses is cut by a third

Government to hold polls on housing and water on same day

Referendums on putting a right to housing in the constitution and on public ownership of water services may take place next year

Half of councils have no full-time roles for tackling vacancy

Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Finance, confirmed this week that owners of vacant homes are facing a new tax in the Budget

Developer rails against ‘diabolical’ process as Coolock housing plan is rejected

Having rezoned the former Chivers factory site from commercial to residential, developer Andrew Gillick wanted to build 550 affordable units for ‘normal people’. But then began a long and ill-fated email exchange with the Land Development Agency

Irish Water hopes to tempt council workers with €3k transfer bonus

Some 3,000 council employees have been offered the cash incentive to join the utility, which wants to employ them in order to have full control of the public water service

Almost 16,000 homes ring-fenced for individual buyers following ban on bulk selling to funds

New legislation was brought in following a political furore caused by a Business Post story about the planned sale of 115 new homes to an investment firm

Changes to make HAP rent scheme fairer are halted due to cost of living crisis

Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Housing, has confirmed to other TDs that he has postponed the new national rent scheme indefinitely

Calls for wider review into An Bord Pleanála following allegations

A number of allegations have been published about the board in recent weeks relating to its deputy chairman Paul Hyde

O’Brien could not agree on new mica scheme with officials ahead of key meeting

Two notes were sent to cabinet subcommittee ahead of mica redress meeting because officials opposed higher cap on grants to homeowners

Sinn Féin leader drives home point over ‘Cuckoo fund roadshow’

Mary Lou McDonald accuses the government of cosying up to institutional investors in the housing market

O’Brien introduces new rent cap

The Minister for Housing has got cabinet approval to cap rent increases at 2 per cent per year in rent pressure zones

Darragh O’Brien orders inquest into all Donegal quarries amid mica block concerns

Minister for Housing asked National Building Control Office to carry out audit after being notified that one Donegal manufacturer had lost its NSAI certification

State pushes back decision on new mica redress scheme

Sources say memo on defective block redress unlikely to be brought to cabinet until second week of November as complexities of new scheme are worked out within government

Housing Agency told O’Brien how to avoid legal action on affordable housing move

A previously unpublished Housing Agency report from December 2020, now seen by the Business Post, said the government could avoid legal challenges by developers if an “up to 20 per cent” wording was used in new Part V rules.