The Chief Executive of the Land Development Agency (LDA) has said its latest report challenges the narrative that there is lots of public land available on which homes can be built.
The report which was approved by Cabinet yesterday and published today said it had identified 32 publicly owned sites which have the potential to deliver up to 15,000 homes in the next seven years.
When the LDA was established in September 2018, the Government said it would "build 150,000 new homes in the next 20 years...with an immediate focus on managing the State's own lands to develop new homes and regenerate underutilised sites".
It also said that the LDA then had "an initial pipeline of State land which is capable of delivering 10,000 homes, with 3,000 of those homes on lands which have already been secured".
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, LDA Chief Executive John Coleman said that the report and an earlier one from 2023, "provide clarity and a realistic view on just how much State land is available".
He said the LDA's 2023 report was "the first time a considered properly researched assessment of State land, that is available and its suitability for housing purposes, was put together".
"I think the narrative before this report was prepared was that there was almost unlimited State land lying around the place to be developed, that is not the case unfortunately," he said.
Mr Coleman said that this was why the LDA "does not exclusively look at State land" but also purchases "land on the market for development".
Focus not just on State lands
"We're under construction today on 16 different sites that can deliver 5,000 homes... about half of those sites were sourced from the State, the other half we purchased on the market ourselves or we partnered with developers to get affordable homes built on lands that they own, so we're not just focused on State lands."
In 2018 the Government said the LDA would "in the longer term"... "assemble strategic landbanks from a mix of public and private lands, making these available for housing in a controlled manner which brings essential long-term stability to the Irish housing market".
However architect and Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at University College Dublin, Orla Hegarty has said that the LDA's "pivot" from building affordable homes on public land to buying private land was "propping up both sales prices and land values, distorting the market and setting new home prices even farther from the reach of most buyers".
'Lack of ambition' in LDA plan
Asst Prof Hegarty also said there was a "lack of ambition" in the LDA's latest plan to deliver up to 15,000 home in seven years.
In the first report in 2023 the LDA identified 83 sites with the potential to be redeveloped for the delivery of social and affordable housing.
Since then two of those sites have been transferred to the LDA.
They are an ESB site in Wilton in Cork city and a Galway Harbour Company site in Galway city.
However a spokesperson for the LDA said "a further 23 sites are being progressed by the LDA in partnership with the land-owning bodies".
"Sites such as parts of the Digital Hub campus in Dublin 8 are in the design process and are progressing toward a planning application," the spokesperson said, adding that "other sites in the 2023 report are being progressed by local authorities to deliver social and affordable housing such as Lissywollen in Athlone and Dublin City Council lands in Rathmines in Dublin.
The LDA is required to submit a report every two years on public land that is potentially suitable for housing in towns with a population of over 10,000.
A total of 102 publicly owned sites earmarked to deliver homes were identified in today's LDA report, however 70 of these were already identified in the 2023 report.
In total, 13 sites were removed from the original 83 identified in 2023.
"Following further assessment and stakeholder engagement, it was considered that these 13 sites should no longer be included as having the potential for future housing delivery due to existing use requirements or because they are being progressed for housing or other development," the spokesperson said.
Today's LDA report said that there were 32 parcels of land that could deliver between 10,860 to 14,780 in next seven years.
These are described as the "least constrained" sites of those included in the report.
A total of 45 parcels of land were labelled "moderately constrained" and the report said these could deliver between 12,050 and 16,170 homes in seven to 15 years.
While 25 parcels of land were classed as "significantly restrained" with the report stating it would take 15 years or more to unlock their potential to deliver between 30,210 and 39,880 homes.
The LDA's 2023 report focused on five cities - Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford - and the five towns - Drogheda, Dundalk, Athlone, Letterkenny, and Sligo.
The 2025 report expanded to look at all towns with a population of 10,000 or more.
A total of 45 more towns were examined, but the report found that there were 29 towns where "relevant public land with the potential for housing was not identified".
It cited reasons such as "the lack of availability of such land, the existing land occupancy and use, and site characteristics and constraints".
However it said that land in these towns would be assessed again for possible inclusion in future reports.
