Housing Minister needs to be clear on status of Co-living Applications
Labour Housing Spokesperson, Senator Rebecca Moynihan has said that the Housing Minister to clarify the status of co-living applications submitted after his ban was announced.
Senator Moynihan was speaking after a number of applications have been made to An Bord Pleanála after the ban was announced and the Minister issued a circular to planning authorities notifying them of his ban.
Senator Moynihan said:
“The updated apartment guidelines, issued before Christmas, now have a presumption against granting planning permission for co-living developments however there are three applications which have recently been lodged with An Bord Planala, totalling 805 units which were not in the system when the ban was first announced.
“Minister O’Brien needs to make a statement on these additional applications and outline why they have appeared on the planning system and what their status is now.
“These applications were made after the Minister announced his ban and were not in the system before he issued his initial circular to the planning authorities indicating he was going to ban co-living in the revised guidelines. It was a sneaky move by the developers to submit these applications knowing that shared living had effectively been banned.
“We can’t allow these units to proceed and the Minister should state clearly that the planning authorities should presume against granting permission as per his letter to them on the 23rd of December, and that these developments be declared invalid.”