Housing densities in Dublin and Cork city centres should be increased, while parking spaces per household should be reduced, according to new draft guidelines from the Department of Housing.

The proposed guidelines, now out for public consultation, increase the permitted density of housing developments in urban areas and outline that housing density in Dublin and Cork city centres should be increased from at least 50 dwellings per hectare to 100-300 dph. Other urban areas across the two cities should be 50-250 dph.

Housing density in the city centres of Limerick, Galway and Waterford should be 100-200 dph, it said.

Currently, 590 SF of private open space is required for smaller houses and 805 SF for a four-bed house. This would be reduced under the new proposals, with a minimum of 215 SF for a one-bedroom house, 430 SF for a three-bed property, and at least 540 SF of private open space for four-bed houses.

The new policy would replace residential guidelines last established in 2009.

Among other proposals, the Department of Housing has recommended that parking spaces for new housing developments in cities near good public transport links should be limited to one space per household, or eliminated where possible.

The guidelines recommend that if parking is not made available for each housing unit, limited parking spots should be provided for people with mobility issues.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland is set to spend an estimated €300M on new Luas trams as it prepares for further expansion of the 44-kilometre network and looks to replace trams currently in service.

TII said “further expansions to the Dublin Luas network are well advanced” and it is in the planning phase for a new light rail network for Cork.

The Luas is operated by Transdev Ireland, and last year 38 million passenger journeys were made, with an average of more than 120,000 passenger journeys made each day.

However, Dublin is heavily reliant on car journeys, and in May the city was ranked as Europe’s worst for public transport among 30 assessed by Greenpeace based on affordability and simplicity in buying tickets.

The Irish capital was the only city analysed without a long-term, fixed-price ticket option across all modes of public transport.