An independent review of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which concluded in 2014 recommended that the provision of social housing through Part V should be retained and that the overall requirement should be up to 10% of units in residential developments. It was considered that this would copper fasten the original objective of Part V in the legislation - that is, the delivery of social housing, combined with integration and sustainable mixed-tenure communities across the country.
Following this, a number of changes to Part V were made in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 (the relevant sections were commenced with effect from 1 September 2015). A principal change was the reduction in the requirement from 20% to 10%. This reduction needs to be considered together with other amendments which reduced the options contained in section 96 for the delivery of units within a Part V agreement. The payment of cash in lieu of units or the transfer of sites or parts of sites was removed, and instead the remaining options are focused on the delivery of completed units.
I have no plans to amend the Part V arrangements. However, my Department will keep the position under review, through closely monitoring the supply of housing generally and the options housing providers use for delivering on their Part V obligations.
