With Dublin suffering from a chronic housing shortage, the number of new homes planned for City Council-owned land in the Irish capital is to be increased by 80% following the publication of the government’s action plan for housing. 

The council had sought expressions of interest from the private sector to develop about 1,300 homes on three of its largest vacant sites, but it now plans to add a further five sites and 1,000 additional homes to its Housing Lands Initiative scheme.

Plans for the development of the first two sites, at O’Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7 and St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore, will be presented to city councillors in early September. If approved, construction could start early next year.

Dublin had the highest average transaction price (€380,237/£326,753) in Ireland between July 2015 and June 2016, according to the latest data released this week in the GeoView report, owed largely to the severe lack of homes on the market.

With home prices rising across much of the city, various reports suggest that property investors have been ‘scrapping to buy properties’ in Dublin in recent months.