10 June 2025
New IPAV President Calls For Emergency Planning Measures Until Such Time As Planning And Development Act Provisions Take Effect
It is an indictment of the quality of the national housing debate that almost any discussion on Rent Pressure Zones is framed in a landlord versus tenant way, according to new President of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers, Fintan McGill, who has also called for emergency planning rules to be introduced to stimulate supply until the measures in the recent Planning and Development Act take effect.
Speaking ahead of the organisation’s annual business conference on Friday (13th June) he said: “If whatever replaces the current RPZ system results in more landlords providing more rental properties then that will be a win for both landlords and tenants,” he said.
“When and if supply increases sufficiently rent levels will taper downwards, as they have done in the past. In February 2011 the average national rent was 27% below the peak of 2007.”
He said scarcity of supply and unprecedented, pent-up demand is pushing up prices of homes to rent and buy. “The Government has a big task but it must be strong in its response and explain to citizens why tough decisions are now necessary for supply to improve,” he said.
And he said the scarcity of supply means young people are putting their lives on hold. “Some are delaying starting families. Others are taking their skills abroad in the hope that they can return in a better position to buy a home.”
In 2023 Eurostat, the EU statistical body, found that in Ireland 68 per cent of people aged between 25 and 29 still lived at home. This figure compared with an EU average of just over 42 per cent, a massive 26 per cent difference.
Mr McGill called for emergency planning laws for a period of time. “We’re all aware of the turgid issues with our planning system. Put simply, it places the public good in a subordinate position to the rights of individuals,” he said. “We have tolerated that situation for far too long.”
The last Government passed The Planning and Development Act 2024. A massive Bill, the very welcome changes required will take some time to implement, changes like the restructuring of An Bord Pleanála, into a new body, An Coimisiún Pleanála.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time, given the magnitude of what we face,” Mr McGill said.
He suggested that one solution would be for Senior Planning Officials and Council CEOs throughout the country be enabled to jointly examine planning applications for small developments of up to 40 units and grant permission “in a sensible way.”
This would be for a short timeframe to enable builders get on with building homes while the overall planning system adapts to the new system, “which is clearly going to take some time to crank up,” he said.
He said too many piecemeal interventions had “corrupted the smooth working of the housing market with an over emphasis on stick rather than carrot, over-regulation rather than positive incentives.
And he warned: “In the world in which we live, there are malign forces waiting in the wings to exploit and disrupt, if we don’t make progress on providing homes for our people.”
IPAV’s new President Fintan McGill, is Managing Director of DNG McGill Longford and Carrick-on-Shannon. He is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the USA.
The IPAV Annual Business Conference takes place in Farnham Estate Spa & Golf Resort, in Cavan on Friday 13th June 2025.
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