Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has commented on the granting of planning permission for another co-living development at Kiely’s Pub in Donnybrook, stating that if the Minister had banned co-living when he took office instead of “prolonging the decision with a review” then this project would not have been granted.
Speaking today, Teachta Ó Broin said:
“The Minister for Housing announced that he was undertaking a review of ‘bonkers’ co-living when he took office last summer.
“This review gave co-living developers a window to submit applications as the review and its recommendations was not published until late November 2020, with the Minister’s partisan ban not taking effect until a full month later on the 23rd of December 2020.
“When the Minister announced his decision on the November 23rd 2020 to ‘ban’ co-living, he was very clear in all his public statements that it was ban.
“Yesterday, however, we saw another co-living application being granted permission by the planning authorities.
“This application for 100 co-living bed spaces was submitted to Dublin City Council in September 2020, while the Minister was dithering and conducting his review.
“The result of which is, as the Minister’s new planning guidelines for co-living state:
There shall be a presumption against granting planning permission for shared accommodation/co-living development unless the proposed development, on the date of publication of these updated Guidelines, a valid planning application to a planning authority, appeal to An Bord Pleanála, or strategic housing development (SHD) planning application to An Bord Pleanála, in which case the application or appeal may be determined on its merits.
“A search through planning applications on Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála shows that seven co-living applications were submitted from mid-July 2020. Of these, three have been granted, adding 608 more co-living bed spaces and four are still pending which could result in an additional 1,201 bed spaces.
“So, after the Minister’s partisan ban was announced, we could see almost 2,000 more co-living bed spaces added.
“The Minister’s handling of co-living has been ill-judged from the start. Unfortunately, due to his lack of immediate action last summer, we will continue to see unwanted co-living developments pop up across our city.”
