Dublin – The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) has issued a strong call to the Government, urging them to use Budget 2025 as a pivotal moment to address Ireland’s mounting affordable housing crisis.
In their comprehensive pre-budget submission, the RIAI outlined 11 strategic actions aimed at creating a “high-quality built environment” across the country. The institute emphasized the urgent need for the Government to leverage the expertise of Irish architects to ensure that Ireland’s infrastructure and public spaces are designed to benefit all citizens.
Sean Mahon, President of the RIAI, highlighted the critical role architects can play in transforming Irish society. “Ireland has the expertise needed to transform our society to best serve our citizens by providing quality affordable homes, sustainable well-resourced communities, and a climate-resilient public realm,” Mahon stated. “RIAI’s submission lays out a clear set of actions that will drive this change. What we need now is government action and leadership to use Budget 2025 to harness this expertise and deliver on this potential.”
According to Breaking News, key recommendations from the RIAI include increasing the employment of architects in the design and delivery of public buildings, fostering research and innovation to create affordable housing, and boosting investment in third-level and post-graduate education for architecture and construction-related fields.
The call to action comes on the heels of a troubling report from Savills, which revealed that population growth in Ireland has outpaced new housing delivery by nearly four to one. The analysis, covering the period from 2015 to 2023, identified Ireland as an “outlier” in the severity of its housing supply crisis.
The report found that for every one new unit of housing delivered, 3.8 people were added to the population—making Ireland’s ratio of population growth to housing supply the worst among the countries studied. The next closest was Spain, with a ratio of 3.4, followed by Canada at 2.9. Ireland’s housing challenge is 80% more severe than that of the UK and double that of Australia.
As the Government prepares for Budget 2025, the RIAI’s message is clear: bold, strategic action is needed to tackle the housing crisis and ensure a sustainable, livable future for all of Ireland’s citizens.