Jay Sattin

The business law firm polled more than 250 agents, developers and property managers at its recent real estate update webinar, which was addressed by Ronan Lyons, associate professor of economics at Trinity College Dublin.

Jay Sattin, senior associate at Mason Hayes & Curran, said: “There are proposals under the Draft Planning and Development Bill to introduce mandatory timelines for all of the planning applications that are submitted to the Commission, with the intention of speeding up those decision-making processes.

“The timelines are not set, but they have to be reasonable — if they are too fast and the Commission isn’t given sufficient resources, then that could lead to rushed decisions and potential errors, which could be subject to judicial review applications.

“Proposals are also being brought in to reduce the number of judicial reviews, which include stricter criteria on the type of applicant who can issue proceedings. The respondents, including the Commission and the developer, will also be notified at an earlier stage of the process.”

Of those surveyed at the webinar, three-quarters said the mandatory timeline for determining a planning appeal should be up to no more than 16 weeks.

A majority (60 per cent) said appeals for large-scale residential developments (LRDs) should be prioritised for mandatory timelines. The survey also highlighted that 38 per cent believe the number of judicial review challenges is the most pressing planning issue.

Professor Lyons said: “Some countries have a zoning system, some countries have a planning system — we have both, and we seem to have embedded both into the legal system now, resulting in a three-way approval process. I think we need to at least go from three down to two, and ideally go from two down to one like other countries.

“It doesn’t have to be zoning or planning, let’s pick one and do it well, and learn from other countries. If it were up to me, I’d pick a good zoning system that allows medium to long-term construction to happen.”

When asked about viability challenges in the Irish construction sector, almost half (48 per cent) said that reforming the planning system to make it more cost-efficient would have the biggest impact on viability, while 20 per cent favoured a reduction in the VAT rate on the purchase of new homes.