‘Ongoing challenge’ to match housing supply with demand in Waterford
Cllr Donal Barry raised the issue at the July plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council
It is an “ongoing challenge” to match the supply of housing in Waterford with the demand, a council meeting has heard.
Independent councillor Donal Barry raised the issue at the July plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.
Cllr Barry said: “Given the projected population growth across Waterford city and county over the coming years, has the council carried out a review of the planning data it holds to assess the gap between planning permissions granted and homes actually being built?
“More importantly, based on the current delivery rates, does the council believe enough homes will be completed to meet projected demand?
“If not, how far behind anticipated housing needs are we likely to be?”
He also raised concerns over the number of housing developments that have received planning permission but have not since commenced.
“The Central Bank has also raised concerns about the high number of uncommenced planning permissions nationwide.
“Has the council analysed this issue locally and what impact does it believe it is having on housing supply in Waterford?”
In response to Cllr Barry, Director of Services Ivan Grimes said that he did not have such figures to hand.
Mr Grimes said: “I don’t have the figures you requested to hand but I can get those for you.
“What I would say is that it’s an ongoing challenge to ensure we have adequate delivery to meet demand.”
He told the meeting that a number of workshops are due to take place in which the rezoning of land for future residential developments will be discussed.
“We are about to commence a number of workshops at district level to discuss the submissions that were received as part of the public consultation with proposals for landowners and developers to rezone lands for residential development.
“I think they’re scheduled to take place next week so we’ll have the planners at those meetings and we’ll be able to get the figures you are looking for at that.”