O’Brien to delay ‘use it or lose it’ rule for planning
Department of Housing fears that cancelling planning permission could lead to delays in construction, as a new application could take up to a year to be granted
Darragh O’Brien is pausing plans to introduce a “use it or lose it” condition for planning permissions for new homes due to concerns about its impact on the sector’s recovery.
The measure was first announced by the housing minister’s predecessor Eoghan Murphy in 2019 in response to the very low rate of construction of homes in fast-tracked, strategic housing developments.
New figures show that this problem is continuing, with only 19 per cent of strategic ...