100+ Housing 2021
Large Scale Residential
The 2021 Act implemented the Programme for Government commitment to not further extending the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) arrangements beyond their expiry date of 25 February 2022. The Act also gives effect to action 12.3 of Housing for All which commits to the introduction of a new planning process for Large-scale Residential Developments (LRDs) to replace the SHD process.
A ‘large-scale residential development’, which is defined to mean a development that includes—
- the development of 100 or more houses,
- the development of student accommodation that includes 200 or more bed spaces,
- both the development of 100 or more houses and of student accommodation
Alternatively, it also includes where both the development of student accommodation that includes 200 or more bed spaces and of houses, where the LRD floor space of
- in the first case , the buildings comprising the houses,
- in the second case , the student accommodation,
- in the third and fourth cases the buildings comprising the houses and the student accommodation,
is not less than 70 per cent, or such other percentage as may be prescribed, of the LRD floor space of the buildings comprising the development, and
‘LRD floor space’, which is defined to mean, in relation to a building or part of a building, the area ascertained by the internal measurement of the floor space on each floor of a building or part of a building (including internal walls and partitions), disregarding any floor space provided for the parking of vehicles by persons—occupying or using the building or the part of the building, for a purpose incidental to the primary purpose of the building or part of the building, and ancillary residential services, including gyms and child-care facilities.
Procedure
There is a process with mandatory two-step pre-application consultation arrangements for large-scale residential developments.
A person who intends to submit an LRD planning application on land that is not located in a strategic development zone and the zoning of which facilitates its use, must be in receipt of an LRD opinion or  determination, issued by the planning authority not more than 6 months prior to submitting the application and the planning authority shall refuse to consider such an application that doesn’t comply with this criteria.
Following the initial mandatory consultations, a prospective LRD applicant can proceed to request a meeting with the planning authority in whose area the proposed development would be situated and this meeting is referred to as an LRD meeting. This Act  sets out the documentation required to be submitted in respect of such a meeting request, as well as the type of information which may be prescribed by the Minister in this regard.
The planning authority must hold an LRD meeting within 4 weeks of the request being made to it. The meeting should be attended by planning authority officials with a sufficient level of relevant knowledge and expertise in the matter concerned as well as the prospective LRD applicant and/ or their representative. The planning authority must keep a written record of the meeting, which shall only be made publically available when an LRD planning application in respect of that development is subsequently made.
Opinion of Planning Authority
The planning authority must issue an LRD opinion within 4 weeks of the LRD meeting taking place and subsequently specify whether or not the documents submitted for the purposes of the meeting constitute a reasonable basis on which to make an Where necessary, the LRD opinion must outline the issues with the documentation submitted and, also, the issues which, if addressed, could result in the documents constituting a reasonable basis on which to make the application.
The undertaking by a planning authority of actions under the LRD procedures shall be without prejudice to the performance by the planning authority of other functions under the Act and cannot be relied upon in the formal planning process or in legal proceedings.
A person shall not question the steps taken by a planning authority under the LRD procedures by reason only that they were not completed on time.
It is an offence for a planning authority official to seek benefit in relation to the provision of an LRD opinion.
Elected Member & Challenge
The planning authority shall notify the elected members of the planning authority of the receipt of an LRD planning application. When considering applications for amendments to previously approved SHDs or LRDs, the planning authority is limited to solely considering the proposed modifications to the previously permitted development and not to reconsidering the original application again in combination with the proposed new modifications.
Any party to a planning appeal may apply to have it heard directly by the Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeal, in order to reduce significantly the time it would otherwise take to ultimately dispose of the litigation.
Time Frame
There are  mandatory timeframes for An Bord Pleanála (the Board) to decide LRD appealsWhere no oral hearing is required on an LRD appeal, such appeal should be decided in 16 weeks or, where an oral hearing is deemed to be required, within such period as may be prescribed by the Minister in regulations. It also sets out the timeframes for deciding LRD appeals when further information (FI) is requested i.e. the appeal shall generally be determined within 4 weeks of receipt of the requested FI or within 8 weeks of the requested FI where the request relates to an environmental impact assessment report or a Natura impact statement.
The Board is to continue to determine LRD appeals notwithstanding that the timeframe has expired. In such circumstances, the Board should notify the parties to the appeal, why it is not possible to determine the appeal on time and when the appeal will be determined. A €10,000 penalty shall be payable to the applicant for permission (i.e. the developer) where the Board fails to meet the LRD appeal timeframes.
Various
The Board when determining an LRD appeal shall not use the provisions for seeking additional information from the applicant for permission.
Proposals for alterations to SHD planning permissions shall no longer be submitted to the Board.
The Minister has the power to prescribe fees in relation to the provision of an LRD opinion by way of regulations. Such regulations require positive approval from the Houses of the Oireachtas before being made.
Mandatory Consultation
The mandatory consultation requirement applies to
- all developments of 10 houses or more under the procedure
- to the development of student accommodation complexes that include 200 or more bed spaces.
The written record of a meeting shall only be made publically available if an LRD planning application in respect of the proposed development is subsequently made.
Existing SHD or LRD
For an application which proposes to amend an already approved SHD or LRD, the planning authority may determine that pre- application consultations and the LRD opinion of the planning authority are not required in cases where the proposed development is substantially the same as the previously permitted development.
There is a temporary compensation exclusion for SHD applications to be maintained so that it applies to all pending SHD decisions, including those to be decided in accordance with the transitional provisions of the Act.
Proposed SHD developments which are already in the SHD system (i.e. have requested an SHD opinion or have already received an SHD opinion) on commencement of the Act as though the previous provisions had not been repealed, subject to the below timelines.
- Proposed SHD developments which have already been the subject of an SHD opinion from the Board on the commencement of the Act will have 16 weeks to submit an SHD application from the date of commencement of the Act.
- Proposed SHD developments in respect of which an SHD opinion is awaited from the Board on the commencement of the Act will have 16 weeks to submit an SHD application from the date of receipt