Key trends and outputs – a five-year strategic review of planning
The OPR today published ‘Planning in Numbers’, a five-year strategic review of planning trends and outputs in Ireland, from 2019-2023.
This five-year review provides clarity on trends and figures, with key highlights including:
- Ireland’s planning system continues to perform statutory duties in the context of increased pressure
- The volume of public consultation processes related to statutory plan-making grew from 2021-2023, with 64 public consultation processes in 2023. The majority (51) related to local area plans, with 13 related to city/county development plans
- During 2023 the number of valid planning applications decreased by 1,793 from the previous year, to 30,578. The national rate for invalid applications has increased since 2021, with the average in 2023 at its highest in the last five years
- The national planning application grant rate remained consistently high, between 87.4% and 89.2% over the five-year period
- The number of planning applications approved in 2023 was 24,448
- In 2023, 41,225 residential units were granted planning permission, a significant increase over 2022, when 34,177 residential units were granted planning permission
- The number of one-off houses granted permission decreased from 6,924 in 2022 to 5,032 in 2023.
- The number of residential units completed continued to increase in 2023, with the rate of apartments higher than housing schemes and single houses
- Planning is experiencing resource challenges as well as looking to technological advances and related challenges and opportunities. A requirement for over 500 technical and non-technical post in local authority planning departments was identified in 2022 by the Local Government Management Association in conjunction with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The implementation of the Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources published in September 2024 is welcomed and will assist the sector
- 2023 data also shows the increasing cost of providing statutory planning functions by local authorities with a low level of income through planning fees
- The number of planning enforcement cases investigated by local authorities decreased to 6,783 from 6,959 during 2023
- There was a small decrease in 2023 in the number of derelict residential properties from 22,279 to 21,947
- 2023 was the first in the last five-year period when judicial review cases taken against An Bord Pleanála decreased
- A preliminary analysis of Climate Action Plan actions undertaken by the Climate Action Regional Offices in October 2024 shows over 3,935 actions were adopted across local authorities, 262 of which are planning related
As we move towards the end of 2024 and the sixth year of annual figures being available, the OPR works towards providing this online. This may provide a richer, interactive resource to support Ireland’s planning system.