Council responds to National Housing Guidelines and proposes additional zoning to meet new targets
Comprehensive review identifies potential to increase existing headroom by 5,000 homes
Fingal County Council has commenced a variation to the Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029 to increase the scale and pace of housing delivery in response to the recently published National Housing Guidelines. Following a comprehensive review of land across the county, the Council is proposing additional residential zoning to provide for an extra 5,000 homes, ensuring Fingal can meet and exceed new national targets.
The variation to the Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029 was published today and will be on public display until January 29, 2026. The variation and supporting documents can be viewed at https://consult.fingal.ie where submissions and observations on the proposal can also be made.
The objective of the variation is to make it easier for private, affordable, cost rental and social homes to be built across Fingal by ensuring there is enough capacity to facilitate the construction of over 29,000 homes during the lifetime of the Development Plan.
The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “We are committed to helping Government achieve its housing targets and have identified areas across the county which can deliver compact planned development that can be accessed by public transportation. This will allow for more efficient land use while avoiding car-dependent urban sprawl-type growth.”
A Chief Executive’s Report outlining the need for a variation to the Development Plan to accommodate new residential growth was presented to Councillors at the December Council meeting.
A two-prong approach to increasing the existing headroom for residential development by 5,000 homes is being proposed.
The Council intends to bring forward a new housing area on the edge of Dublin City in South Fingal at Dunsink. Work has been underway to plan the area for the last 18 months and it is proposed to publish a Local Area Plan in early 2026. This will facilitate the early release of approximately 2,500 new homes with minimal infrastructure requirements.
The Council also plans to deliver approximately 2,500 more homes by the re-zoning of additional lands not currently zoned for development across the County, including lands in Barnhill, Clonsilla, Balrothery, Skerries, Lusk, Malahide, Kinsealy and Clongriffin.
The proposed rezonings will ensure there is a larger supply of residential zoned land for development available in Fingal. The Development Plan, when adopted by Councillors in 2023, had the capacity to deliver 35,000 new homes across the county and almost 7,000 new homes have already been built. Increasing the development potential of the county by an extra 5,000 homes will make it easier for developers to bring projects to site.
The proposed variation was prompted by the Section 28 Guidelines on National Planning Framework Implementation – Housing Growth Requirements which have replaced the Housing Supply Target Methodology for Development Planning, Guidelines for Planning Authorities, published in December 2020. Following the publication of the new guidelines in July, the Minister for Housing, James Browne TD, asked all 31 local authorities to review their Development Plans and incorporate the new annual housing delivery targets.
In preparing the variation, the Council’s planning team carried out an extensive review of the residential zoned lands across the County and examined lands both within and outside existing settlements and urban areas as well as the capacity for residential development within existing settlements.
For further information on the variation to the Development Plan go to https://consult.fingal.ie
