Revised NPF: What’s New for the Housing Sector?

The revised National Planning Framework has been approved by Government. There are some significant changes to housing policy and objectives. Our Planning & Environment team considers the key changes.

What you need to know

• Following recent approval by Government, the revised National Planning Framework (NPF) is awaiting approval by the Oireachtas. It is expected to be adopted in Q2 2025.
• The NPF is an important planning policy document in Ireland as it sets the Government’s high-level, strategic plan for future development.
• The revised NPF will make housing a critical priority up to 2040, with a target of 50,000 new homes per annum, more than double previous targets.
• Local authorities will have to review their plans and policies to align with the revised NPF. This is expected to lead to significantly more land being zoned for housing development.

The revised NPF is the Government’s high-level strategic plan for shaping future growth and development up to 2040. The key issue it addresses is how to best plan for Ireland’s growing population and economy. It aims to guide public and private investment and to create opportunities while also protecting the environment. It is largely based on projections for population growth which are used to inform the Government’s targets for key areas, including housing.

Increased housing targets

In the first edition of the NPF in 2018, Ireland’s population was expected to reach 5.7 million in 2040. This is now expected to be up to 6.1 million. Against the backdrop of the current housing crisis, this means there will be even more significant demand for new housing during this period. The revised NPF sets an ambitious target of delivering 50,000 new homes per annum to meet this demand.[1] This is more than double the previous target of 22,000 new homes per annum. For context, it is reported that 30,330 new homes were delivered in 2024.

Most population growth and new development to date has been concentrated in Dublin and surrounding areas. The revised NPF aims to balance this by shifting population growth and new development to other areas also. In particular, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford will be key growth areas and, to a slightly lesser extent, Sligo and Athlone. To achieve this balance, the aim is for Dublin to have a growth rate of 20 - 25%, whilst the other four cities will aim to grow by 40%.[2]

This means there will be increased housing targets for these towns and cities. The objective is to deliver at least 50% of all new homes in the five cities,[3] and 30% within the existing footprint of other towns and villages.[4]

Compact development and building height

Compact development is a key objective in the revised NPF. It is considered that compact development can improve the quality of life enjoyed by residents in urban areas, such as by reducing travel times to and from work. It also reduces demand on the State to provide services to new development.[5]

To achieve compact growth in the key towns and cities, the target is for at least 40% of all new housing to be delivered on infill and brownfield sites within existing built-up areas.[6] The other 60% of new housing will continue to be delivered at the edge of settlements and in rural areas. As higher densities and shorter travel distances reduce energy demand, multi-storey and terraced development in close proximity to urban areas is considered most feasible.

To try to address some of the difficulties of developing infill and brownfield sites, the revised NPF provides that planning standards “should be flexibly applied in response to well-designed development proposals that can achieve urban infill and brownfield development objectives”. This means that “in particular, general restrictions on building height or universal standards for car parking, separation distances or garden size may not be applicable in all circumstances”. The revised NPF considers that these restrictions should be replaced by performance-based criteria appropriate to the general location of a development.[7]

The revised NPF will also seek to slow the rate of development and population growth in recently expanded commuter settlements of all sizes.[8]

A tool is being developed to track and compare urban development trends across the key towns and cities. This tool will be designed to assist planning authorities and developers to identify areas that are most suited to, and in need of, compact development.

Review of local authority plans

As a long-term framework document, the NPF sets out processes and principles that more detailed planning documents must follow. To ensure it is followed, the Government will publish an updated ‘Implementation Roadmap’, guiding local authorities on how to incorporate the processes and policies into their own plans and policies.

To put the revised NPF into action, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has announced that he will direct local authorities to review their County Development Plans and Local Area Plans to align with the objectives of the revised NPF. In particular, he intends to direct local authorities to re-zone significantly more land for residential development. This is to try to ensure that sufficient land is available for public and private development to achieve the target of 50,000 new homes per annum. Any decisions to re-zone lands should be based on ‘housing need demand assessments’ carried out by individual local authorities.[9]

Potential restrictions on development

Whilst the revised NPF and the Minister’s public announcement appear to be very pro-housing development, the planning system will still be subject to environmental laws and policies. As well as providing a framework for development, the revised NPF also seeks to ensure that development does not negatively impact the environment. It sets national policy objectives such as:

• Integrating sustainable water management solutions including sustainable urban drainage (SUDS), non-porous surfacing and green roofs, and nature based solutions to create safe places[10]
• Avoiding inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding that do not pass the ‘justification test’ as outlined in the ‘Guidelines on the Planning System and Flood Risk Management’[11]
• Identify and strengthen the value of greenbelts and green and blue spaces at regional, city and local scales,[12] and
• Planning authorities should try to ensure there is no net loss of biodiversity within their plan making functions.[13]

Conclusion

The revised NPF sets ambitious targets for housing development in Ireland up to 2040. On the back of the Government’s approval of the revised NPF, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced that, once it is adopted he “will then give a direction to all the local authorities to open up their county development plans and to rezone a very significant additional amount of land so that land is available for builders to build the homes that people need across the country”.

This signals a major effort by Government to boost the supply of housing in Ireland. However, policy alone won’t achieve these objectives. More action by all stakeholders will be required to implement the policies and achieve the targets.

For more information, please contact a member of our Planning & Environment team.

People also ask

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.

[1] National Policy Objective 42

[2] National Policy Objective 16

[3] National Policy Objective 8

[4] National Policy Objective 9

[5] National Policy Objective 43

[6] National Policy Objective 7

[7] National Policy Objectives 22 and 45

[8] National Policy Objectives 15 and 20

[9] National Policy Objective 47

[10] National Policy Objective 77

[11] National Policy Objective 77

[12] National Policy Objective 83

[13] National Planning Objective 86