Housing

Ballymore boss: ‘I am worried that we are going to run out of developable land in three years’

Patrick Phelan, managing director of Ballymore in Ireland, is optimistic about some aspects of the current housing landscape, including the Dart West project, but concerned that the state’s zoning strategy is based on incorrect and outdated data

Patrick Phelan, managing director of Ballymore in Ireland: ‘I believe that the government is further away from the 30,000 homes a year target than it was last year.’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

Across the road from Patrick Phelan’s office in Ashtown, a building site rumbles on. It’s the final piece of a large project that Ballymore, Sean Mulryan’s housebuilding firm, has chipped away at for nearly 20 years.

Work commenced at Royal Canal Park in Dublin 15 in 2003, with the first two phases of the development completed by 2008. Phase three, which consisted of 312 homes and an Aldi supermarket, commenced construction in 2015 and is ...