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InvestigatesSocial HousingLOCAL AUTHORITIES HAVE taken more than 60 planning enforcement actions against developers for failing to comply with their social housing obligations in the last five years.
Under planning regulations, private developers of housing estates are required to deliver a percentage of social housing as part of their development. This planning condition is commonly known as Part V.
New figures released to The Journal Investigates show that councils have opened 61 enforcement cases against developers for breaching this planning condition since 2020.
But these are heavily weighted towards three local authorities – Kerry County Council, Galway County Council and Louth County Council – which represent over 80% of the total enforcement action taken.
These figures also do not include Kildare County Council, which said its “enforcement system does not categorise cases by type” and, as a result, was unable to provide a figure.
Most cases relate to the developer beginning construction before they have agreed with the council which units will become social homes.
In one case, a developer was selling the houses while still negotiating with the council, putting them in competition with people trying to buy the same homes.
Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne told The Journal Investigates that due to the high prices being charged by developers, the scheme has become “a really expensive form of delivering social housing”.
The number of enforcement cases taken each year by local authorities against developers has risen dramatically in recent years, with 27 cases taken in 2025. This has increased from 12 cases in 2023 and 10 cases in 2024.
This rise is likely due in part to increased construction taking place across the country.
Part V has resulted in just shy of 7,400 social housing units being delivered to local authorities or approved housing bodies by developers in the past five years – though one council has not acquired any Part V social homes since 2014.
But with some developers failing to comply with their obligations, local authorities are increasingly having to enforce the rules in order to secure the allocation of social housing as part of these new developments.
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Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 requires developers to enter into an agreement with local authorities to provide a portion of social housing as part of new housing developments.
Developments of more than four houses are required to comply with Part V, and those with fewer can apply for an exemption to the obligations.
This agreement allows local authorities to capture land at a value prior to planning permission being granted, which is typically lower than the market value.
The rationale behind this policy is to promote integrated development and reduce situations where housing types are segregated.
Local authorities can agree with developers for the transfer of land, the building and transfer of houses, the transfer of houses off-site or the leasing of houses as part of this negotiation.
The percentage of land a developer must transfer to a local authority depends on when the land was purchased.
Prior to September 2015, the requirement for Part V was 20%, but this was reduced to 10% in an effort to incentivise a struggling construction sector.
The 20% requirement has since been reinstated for any land purchased after August 2021, and from August this year, all new planning permissions for housing development will have a 20% Part V requirement, regardless of date of purchase.
Most of the cases against developers are taken because construction begins before it is legally allowed to.
Some planning conditions must be met before development can begin, and Part V is one of these.
But records released to The Journal Investigates under Freedom of Information show an apparent disregard for these procedures by some developers.
Many of the cases taken are initiated by the local authority because a developer has begun construction work before any agreement with the council is in place over Part V, which is a breach of planning rules.
Orla Hegarty, an assistant professor at UCD’s School of Architecture, told The Journal Investigates, “there’s no reason why the price shouldn’t be agreed before the developer goes on site.”
She added that there needs to be a redress of the power imbalance between developers and local authorities, “because it seems to be that all of the negotiating power is with the developer at the moment”.
Kerry County Council have opened 20 planning enforcement cases against developers in the past five years relating to Part V, the most of any local authority.
Just over half of all local authorities (17) have not started any proceedings against developers, though Donegal County Council told our team that nine cases in the county predate 2020.
Galway County Council started 12 enforcement actions against developers in 2025 alone, the most of any local authority last year.
Hegarty said that the figures suggest “certain local authorities are just doing their job” when it comes to enforcement, rather than letting negotiations drag on.
For the majority of cases, this enforcement action is resolved in a matter of weeks, and the case can be closed.
But others can last far longer, stalling the development and delivery of much-needed social homes.
In Kerry, a case from 2021 remains open and unresolved, even with an enforcement notice being served in 2023.
Of the 20 cases provided to The Journal Investigates, 14 of them remain open.
A spokesperson for the council did not respond to a request for comment.
Many of the disagreements between local authorities and developers over Part V relate to the price.
Some developers also appear to be selling houses on the market despite not having a Part V agreement in place.
Records released by Sligo County Council show one case where the council was offered a house by the developer to satisfy the Part V requirement.
During price negotiations, the council made three offers, which were all rejected before a different house was proposed by the developer.
This different unit was rejected by the council as they were aware “that another party had signed a contract for the purchase of that house”, adding that the developer hadn’t yet signed this contract.
They were then informed that the original house had been sold and was no longer available.
After initiating planning enforcement proceedings against the developer, the council signed a Part V agreement for the second house that had been offered.
This means that because the developer hadn’t signed the Part V agreement before construction began, an innocent party looking to buy a home was caught in the middle and ultimately lost out, even though they had signed the contract.
Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne told The Journal Investigates that “the builders and the investor funds have the councils and the state over a barrel” in terms of cost and are charging “really high prices” for social housing.
UCD’s Hegarty said that increased transparency is needed in these agreements regarding the price paid by councils and how the agreements are made.
Instead of a protracted negotiation that might sometimes require planning enforcement cases being taken by local authorities, Hegarty argued the government should set rates each year for costs to be based on. She added:
I don’t know why they’re getting into these protracted negotiations over cost, where the developer seems to win mostly, and the public purse seems to lose.
Just under 7,400 social housing units have been acquired by local authorities through Part V in the last five years, though the most recent data does not yet include the last quarter of 2025.
Longford County Council was the only local authority in the county not to acquire any social housing from Part V since 2020.
In fact, records going back to 2014 show that Longford has never acquired any social housing units from the Part V planning requirement.
A spokesperson for the council told The Journal Investigates, “the council fulfilled these legislative requirements by securing financial contributions from developers”.
They later clarified that since 2020, there have been no developments of more than four houses in the county “other than developments solely for the provision of social houses”.
“In acquiring these social houses, the Part V liability was met by application of a reduction on the overall price paid by Longford County Council to the developer,” the spokesperson continued.
Elsewhere, Dublin and Kildare local authorities make up over half of all Part V acquisitions in the last five years.
Kildare County Council benefited the most from Part V since 2020 with 955 units, followed by South Dublin County Council (838 units) and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (761 units).
Elsewhere, 10 local authorities received fewer than 50 social housing units from Part V over the past five years, including Roscommon (12 units), Cavan (11 units) and Leitrim (7 units).
Reporter: Conor O’Carroll • Editor: Noel Baker • Social Media: Cliodhna Travers • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly
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