Vol. 527 No. 3
275 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans he has to make an amendment to section 94(1) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, in view of the fact that builders and developers of housing estates of over four houses will find it impossible to complete works within the two year timeframe of their planning permission. [28255/00]
When drafting the provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, on the supply of housing, a central concern was to ensure that the Act would apply in an equitable fashion to all developers of residential property. The Act provides that planning permissions granted on foot of an application made after 25 August 1999, which would otherwise have been subject to the requirements concerning social and affordable housing had a housing strategy been included in the development plan, will expire two years from the grant of permission or on 31 December 2002, whichever is later. This applies to so much of the development for which the external walls have not been completed. This provision is designed to ensure that the provisions of the Act could not be avoided by obtaining planning permission for a large number of residential developments in the interval before the Act comes into force. I have no plans to amend the provision.
