Independent councillor Pádraig McEvoy has joined journalist and author Frank McDonald, Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty, Green Party councillors David Healy and Dan Boyle in seeking a judicial review of the new regulations.
A Kildare councillor is among a group taking a High Court challenge against the Government’s new apartment planning standards.
Independent councillor Pádraig McEvoy has joined journalist and author Frank McDonald, Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty, Green Party councillors David Healy and Dan Boyle in seeking a judicial review of the new regulations.
Kfm understands that the case, which opens on Monday, will argue that the Department of Housing should have carried out a Strategic Environmental Assessment before introducing the new rules earlier this year.
The revised apartment guidelines - published in July - increase the proportion of studio apartments developers can include in new schemes, reduce minimum studio sizes to 32 square metres, and lower the requirement for dual-aspect units from 33 per cent to 25 per cent.
They also permit fewer lifts, windows and private open spaces.
Minister for Housing James Browne has defended the changes, saying they are essential to boosting housing supply and bringing Ireland into line with European norms.
He said the measures could cut costs by between €50,000 and €100,000 per unit and help restart apartment construction.
The proceedings could take six months to a year to resolve.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris are understood to have warned colleagues that the legal challenge is “very serious” and could effectively stall apartment building.
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