Housing developer Glenveagh says land hoarding penalties must be stricter

Glenveagh wants Ireland to take a harder line against land hoarding, arguing that stricter penalties and long-delayed land speculation measures are needed to unlock housing sites.

The company made the recommendations in its first Homebuilding Horizons report, which sets out 40 policies for expanding homebuilding. Polling commissioned from Red C Research found that only 16 per cent of people believe Ireland is making real progress on housing. Among 18 to 34-year-olds, that figure fell to 11 per cent.

The report calls for the Government to strengthen the Residential Zoned Land Tax, which currently charges owners of undeveloped residentially zoned land an annual levy of 3 per cent of the site’s market value. Glenveagh did not propose a specific higher rate, but said the Tax Strategy Group should examine an escalating tax to encourage owners to build.

The developer also supports Land Value Sharing, a measure included in successive Government housing plans. The proposed system would capture 25 per cent of the increase in land value created when property is rezoned for residential use. Glenveagh said the measure could help dampen land prices, although builders have previously criticised it.

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set out, candidly, where the system is working, where it is not and what needs to change

Housing costs remain a central concern in the report’s polling. Nearly half of people who do not own their homes outright spend more than 30 per cent of household income on housing. In Dublin, one in five non-homeowners spends more than half of their income on housing.

Glenveagh chief executive Stephen Garvey said Ireland faced a major housing challenge over the coming decade, but argued that the country was closer to resolving it than many people believed. The report forecasts completions rising from 36,284 last year to more than 40,000 in 2026. Research by Goodbody commissioned for the report says Ireland will complete 7.2 homes per 1,000 people this year, more than twice the EU average of three.

The report also recommends raising the planning fees developers pay to local authorities. Glenveagh said those fees have remained largely unchanged for more than 25 years.

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a major housing challenge for the coming decade, but we are closer to resolving it than many might believe