A BRITISH PLAN TO penalise property developers who miss construction deadlines could not happen in Ireland, a number of housing experts and politicians have said. 

This is because there is a need to focus on revising legacy government policy and fixing roadblocks in the construction industry before projects get underway. 

Instead of imposing fines or penalising developers for missing completion dates, the Irish government should instead seek to support these companies through market interventions and more state-funded projects, housing expert Dr Lorcan Sirr told The Journal. 

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is bringing in a plan to penalise developers who do not “get on with it” and complete housing projects in the UK.

This is my message to housebuilders: get on with it.

If you promise homes, you have to build them.

As part of our Plan for Change, we’re introducing penalties if you don’t build them fast enough.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 25, 2025

Sirr told The Journal that the idea has been proposed for the past 30 years in Ireland, but has never happened.

While Starmer believes that developers must deliver homes that they have promised to build to the deadline that has been agreed upon, Sirr pointed out that the industry in Ireland is very different.

Sirr said: “It wouldn’t work because a lot of development delays are out of their control.”

Often, construction firms are left with no choice but to wait for impasses to resolve, he said. One example of this, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne, is the current backlog of planning applications at An Bord Pleanála.

Hearne, his party’s housing spokesperson, said over 80,000 planning permission applications that are still awaiting approval as an example of delays. 

Sirr suggested that Ireland could first increase the number of staff planners at An Bord Pleánala, which he estimated is short by roughly 350 people. He said the solution to delays is in the “hands” of the government.

Asked if there are measures to keep developers on track, Sirr questioned the effectiveness of imposing strict deadlines on private sector firms and suggested that the state needs to instead play a more active role in addressing delays.

“Let the private sector do what it does,” Sirr said. “But increase state involvement [to reduce development barriers].”

“It is incumbent on the government, not the developer, to relieve delays,” he added.

In recent weeks, construction industry organisations have urged the government to impose a mandatory 10-week deadline on utility companies to connect new homes in order to cut down on current delays.

What do Irish politicians make of the idea?

When asked by The Journal whether Starmer’s plan could work in Ireland, Social Democrats Housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said also pointed to how Ireland’s situation is different to the UK. 

“Part of the fundamental policy flaw in governments over the last 20 years has been this complete overreliance on private developers to deliver housing and if there’s a housing need, private developers will build.”

Hearne, who was a social policy and housing academic prior to his election, emphasised the “need” to find the root cause behind delays, rather than punishing them for not meeting deadlines.

The Dublin North West TD said that high demand in the housing market means developers can only deliver what is feasible, leading to higher rents and an avenue for the generation of large profits for developers.

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said that there are “more effective” penalties for developers here, such as revoking planning permission for firms with a large amount of vacant sites which have been serviced.

“But in the first instance here, the biggest offender is the state,” the Dublin Mid-West TD added.

Labour TD Marie Sherlock said that penalties would be more effective if the government  did more to tackle the issues of dereliction and vacant sites first.