'A complete failure to address the housing emergency': Why are we building so few apartments in Cork?

THE ramping-up of apartment developments has long been recognised as a necessary way to tackle the housing crisis, but data shows that Cork City Council granted permission for fewer new apartments last year than it had for the last seven years, and that even if granted permission, apartments see significantly fewer completions than other housing types.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that 731 apartment units in Cork city were granted planning permission in the whole of 2024 — fewer than half the 1,856 granted permission in 2023, and the lowest figure in seven years.

Cork opposition TDs have said that the figures represent Government policy failure, accusing them of bowing to the private sector with new rules around apartment planning, which one described as a “fool’s errand”, saying that fixing the housing crisis for Cork people must be State-led.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said when launching new planning rules for apartments recently: “The National Planning Framework — First Revision (2025) projects a need to plan for approximately 50,000 additional households per annum to 2040, and reaffirms the Government’s commitment to compact growth.

“Fulfilling these commitments will require a substantial increase in housing output of all types, and in particular the delivery of apartments at central and accessible urban locations.

“Viability presents an ongoing challenge to housing delivery. This is particularly relevant for the delivery of apartments, where a considerable gap has emerged between the cost of delivering apartment development and comparable general housing market prices.”

This difficulty in delivering apartments can be seen in the CSO figures from the last seven years, where there is a significant gap between the amount of apartment units granted planning permission compared to those actually delivered.

A gap between permission being granted and the development being completed is common, but in the case of apartments compared to other property types, the gap is consistent, suggesting longer timelines and a lack of delivery in some cases.

There were 1,426 apartment units granted permission in Cork city in 2022, 1,617 in 2021, 1,016 in 2020, 937 in 2019 and 758 in 2018.

There were 313 completed in 2024, 290 in 2023, 288 in 2022, 84 in 2021, 146 in 2020, 47 in 2019, and 102 in 2018 — a total of 1,270 in the seven-year period.

From 2018 to 2024, there were a total of 8,341 apartment units granted permission in Cork city — more than six and a half times greater than the amount of apartment units completed during the same period.

From the start of 2018 to the end of 2024, there were 3,468 houses granted planning permission as part of a housing scheme and an additional 290 one-off houses, as well as the 8,341 apartments granted permission by Cork City Council.

In the same seven-year period, there were 4,871 scheme houses completed and 392 single houses, as well as the 1,270 apartment units completed.

This means that of the 12,099 housing units granted permission, 69% were apartments, while 29% were scheme houses, and 2% were one-off houses.

However, of the 6,533 completions across the city during the period, 19% were apartment completions, 75% were scheme houses and 6% were one-off houses. This means apartments were 3.6 times more likely to be granted permission than to be built from 2018 to 2024 in Cork city.

It comes as a recent report by Cork Simon on the need for more one- and two-bedroom housing units identified apartments as being slower or even less likely to be built than other housing types.

Report author Sophie Johnston identified that 77% of adults in emergency accommodation in Cork and Kerry were single adults, and 61% of households on the social housing waiting list in Cork city were single households.

In Cork city, there are more than twice as many one- and two-person households as there are one- and two-person homes, indicating a deficit of over 100% in one- and two-bedroom homes — a ratio also present on a national level, the report highlighted, adding that apartments are the most common type of these much-needed smaller housing units.

Ms Johnston also pointed out a “trend of the low number of apartments completed relative to the higher number granted planning permission”, adding: “It appears that many apartments granted planning permission are not being built, indicating there may be particular barriers to building apartments.”

However, there have been some trends this year that suggest the provision of apartment units in Cork city will be ramped up.

In terms of planning, the first three months of 2025 saw the highest Q1 figures since 2018, with 415 apartment units granted permission in Cork city.

Seventy-seven apartment units were completed in the first six months of 2025, some 37 in the first quarter and 40 in the second quarter.

Recently, housing minister James Browne issued new planning standards for apartments, which set out revised standards for apartment development in relation to matters including apartment mix, internal space standards, floor-to-ceiling heights, storage spaces, and amenity spaces.

The rules, which include the removal on restrictions about how many one-bedroom apartments could make up the overall development, are expected to make building apartments more appealing for private developers.

Social Democrats TD for Cork South Central, Pádraig Rice, said that the private sector was not the answer to the housing crisis, telling The Echo: “These figures are just more evidence that the Government’s housing policy is failing.

“The continued overreliance on the private market to deliver housing, particularly apartments, is clearly not working, and it’s time this Government changed course. The only way to solve the housing crisis is to put the State and the not-for-profit sector at the heart of housing delivery.

“Continuing to provide handouts for developers and slashing housing standards is a fool’s errand that will not deliver affordable or indeed quality housing at scale. The people of Cork deserve better.”

Labour’s Cork North Central TD, Eoghan Kenny, said that the trends in the data were worrying.

“This figure, coupled with the lack of ambition with the tenant-in-situ scheme, shows that central Government showcase a complete failure to address the housing emergency in Cork.”

Recently, Cork City Council said it had been forced to stall the tenant-in-situ scheme, which sees the local authority buy a property from a landlord when they have indicated a desire to sell. This helps the tenant avoid homelessness, as they become a council tenant instead.

In April of this year, the council said that “insufficient funding” had been provided by central Government to cover last year’s costs and acquire new properties, adding “this is likely to have a significant effect on homeless presentations”.

Mr Kenny told The Echo: “It shouldn’t be the case that the CEO of a local authority has to make a plea to the press for extra funding.

“Cork Simon, who constantly find themselves in a situation where they are the go-to for homeless families and individuals, hit the nail on the head when it comes to the development of one- and two-bedroom apartments.

“We constantly disregard the fact that so many single people are in emergency accommodation and lack any hope of being able to secure a house that they have been approved for.

“I’m calling on central Government to engage effectively with both local authorities in the county, to allow development to take place, apartments, houses, and once-off housing.”

Cork City Council has been contacted for comment.