Housing shortage threatens growth

The housing shortage is now a serious threat to Cork’s economic growth, those attending a recent housing event heard.

The event, Removing the Barriers to Housing Supply – A Solution-Based Approach, heard how companies are finding it harder to attract and keep staff, with many workers priced out of the local housing market.

After the Cork Business Association (CBA) event, housing spokesperson Seamus McGrath TD told the Cork Independent “there is no silver bullet” for the housing crisis, but a new national housing plan is on the way.

“We are building houses, but more is needed. We must also build apartments in urban areas where services already exist. Lack of services is often cited as a barrier, but our cities and main towns already have those services. We need to develop the land available, including greenfield sites, and increase compact density to provide more options,” he said.

He acknowledged the scale of the challenge. Ireland needs between 50,000 and 60,000 new homes each year. “The Programme for Government sets out a target of 300,000 homes between now and 2030. We all know it is ambitious. It will be very difficult to achieve. But we must achieve as much as possible.”

He also pointed to major Government investment, with €34 billion in additional funding now committed under the National Development Plan.

“This is a housing-centred plan: more than one in every three euro of capital spending in this country is now directed into housing. That is before counting critical supports like water, wastewater, energy, and transport.”

Government is spending €7 billion directly on housing this year, one of the highest levels in Europe. There are also 30,000 more people employed in construction than last year. However, Deputy McGrath stressed that high building costs remain a major challenge.

“The easy option—sprawling into greenfield areas—is not sustainable. Internationally, the trend is towards compact development. We need to build densely where services exist while preserving agricultural land for food production.”

He commended Cork City Council for its affordable housing schemes and said major projects are now becoming reality.

At the same event, the CBA launched a new paper, Measures to Increase Housing Supply, which called for urgent tax reforms, targeted incentive schemes, and planning changes.

Dave O’Brien, President of the CBA and Head of Tax at Xeinadin, said housing has become as much a business issue as a social one.

“Companies are struggling to attract and keep staff because of the lack of affordable housing. We risk losing talent and the workforce needed to thrive. Our paper puts forward clear, evidence-based solutions that can have an immediate impact.”

Clara O’Neill of Total Planning Solutions, co-author of the report, pointed to the sharp impact on young people. “68,000 adults are still living with their parents in Ireland. It shows a broken system. Part of the solution is simply to increase supply. As soon as supply rises, prices should stabilise.”

She warned rezoning more land is not enough. “While rezoning more land is positive, it doesn’t address the fact that planning exists for over 5,000 apartments in the city that are not viable to build. It simply makes it more viable to build housing units outside the city. Greenfield sites are always cheaper – but what’s being done to make city apartment schemes viable? Nothing yet.”

Planning reform was described as central to fixing the problem. Dr Seán O’Leary of the Irish Planning Institute said: “With the right planning reforms, Cork can unlock significant new housing supply in a way that is efficient and future-proof.”

From the construction industry, Darragh O’Reilly of O’Reilly Precast highlighted the role of modern building methods such as precast and offsite construction, which he said can deliver “speed, cost certainty and quality”.

Closing the event, the CBA announced that Cork’s Better Building Awards are now open for entry for 2025.

For more details, visit corkbusiness.ie.