The Irish economy is proving remarkably resilient despite the more uncertain global trading environment.

Between 2026 and 2028, the domestic economy is predicted to grow by close to 3% per annum while employment is also anticipated to expand by around 2% each year during this period. In parallel, the population is projected to continue to grow strongly, and is predicted to reach 5.6 million by 2030, with some scenarios putting it potentially higher.

Meanwhile, new housing completions are continuing to fall far short of what is required to meet the needs of Ireland’s growing economy and expanding population.

The CSO reported that there were 36,284 dwelling completions in 2025, well below the 55,000 units that are required annually between now and 2034.

Worryingly for the years ahead, just 16,412 units commenced construction in 2025, the lowest level recorded since 2016. New homes construction continues to lag demand due to a number of well publicised factors including elevated construction and financing costs, prolonged planning timelines, labour shortages and a scarcity of zoned and serviced land.

The latter is a particularly significant obstacle. A recent report by Goodbodys estimated that there is a shortage of zoned and serviced land in the Eastern and Midlands Region (which includes Dublin and the Commuter Belt Counties) to meet updated housing supply targets over a six-year development plan period in the order of 40,000–70,000 units (this takes account of current permissioned units and the need to provide a buffer over and above the estimate of housing requirements).

Recognising the seriousness of this issue, the Government launched the National Planning Framework Guidelines on Housing Growth and Zoning Requirements which instructed Planning Authorities to ensure that sufficient zoned land is available, consistent with the new national housing growth requirements of 55,000 units per annum on average between now and 2034. Furthermore, additional headroom of 50% is available to Planning Authorities, enabling them to zone for a total of up to 83,000 units per annum.

Allied to this, the Government also launched a new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund that will allocate €1.0 billion over the next five years to boost the delivery of public infrastructure projects to service and unlock housing sites in towns and cities across Ireland.

The fund will complement investment by other Government departments and infrastructure agencies, such as Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks, who have received funding under the updated National Development Plan to support housing growth as part of a more coordinated approach.

These proposals represent a great opportunity for landowners to engage with local authorities and utility providers to deliver a step change in the provision of zoned and serviced land, for which there is significant demand in the market from a variety of actors including the PLCs (Cairn and Glenveagh), the larger housebuilders and even State bodies such as the Land Development Agency.

The Irish development land market witnessed a robust performance in 2025 with €685 million transacting across 79 deals. There was a noticeable uptick in interest in larger sites without planning, including un-zoned or strategic reserve land, especially in Dublin and areas with good transport links.

Knight Frank recently traded 97 acres of strategic reserve land in Maynooth, Co. Kildare for €16.0 million as well as 63 acres at Skylark Hill in Newcastle, Co. Dublin which had significant rezoning and development potential for €5.6 million.

Sites that do not yet benefit from planning permission, including unzoned or strategic reserve land, are typically available at more attractive price points, enabling developers to assemble sites for long-term development strategies in a cost-efficient manner.

Although challenges persist around infrastructure provision, including utilities such as water and electricity, as well as the planning process itself, developers are increasingly encouraged by the direction of government policy.

Confidence is being supported by the aforementioned measures aimed at expanding the supply of zoned land and increased funding for site servicing. It is also worth noting that planning approval timelines have seen some improvement over the past year under the Large-scale Residential Development process.

However, the scheduled enactment of the proposed reforms of the judicial review system, as outlined in the Planning and Development Act 2024, and the implementation of recommendations in the report of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce will bring even greater certainty to the planning system and further strengthen the demand for land without planning.

Interest in apartment sites increased noticeably in 2025. The Croí Cónaithe scheme—which aims to bridge the viability gap between construction costs and unit sale prices, subject to the units being sold to owner-occupiers—has been important in this regard with Cairn Homes, Glenveagh and Park Developments all having sites under construction or approved under the scheme, totalling nearly 1,000 units.

The reforms to rent pressure zones, a reduction in VAT for apartment construction and changes to apartment design standards (which although have been challenged via judicial review, will hopefully be enacted in 2026) will bring additional viability improvements and further strengthen the demand for apartment sites this year.

This is important as it is widely recognised that Ireland needs to be building at least 25,000 apartment units per annum in order to hit the revised housing targets.