As of 2025, new national Planning Design Standards for Apartments have come into effect, and as a property developer, we have detailed these major updates below.
These updated guidelines, issued by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, are aimed at making apartment delivery more viable, flexible, and responsive to modern construction and housing needs. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s changed and why it matters.
How the Updated Planning Design Standards for Apartments Will Shape Future Living
1. More Flexibility with Unit Mix
Previously, local plans often dictated how many 1-beds, 2-beds, and 3-beds a scheme needed. That’s now changed.
SPPR 1 removes mandatory unit mix rules in most cases, giving developers the freedom to design based on demand and site potential, except in schemes that include social or older persons’ housing, which still follow set guidance.
As a developer that keeps the community at the centre of all of our developments, this is a welcome change to the guidelines, allowing us to continue crafting housing solutions that will cater specifically for the needs of residents of our developments at all stages of life.
2. Minimum Sizing Requirements
The minimum size for studios has dropped from 37 sq m to 32 sq m, allowing greater efficiency on tight sites.
Combined with the flexibility to offer new 3-bed (5-person) units and the continued requirement for 25% of units to be 10% larger, it ensures scale doesn’t come at the expense of livability, supporting our commitment to delivering attainable housing without compromising quality.
3. Easier Delivery on Complex Sites
With dual-aspect requirements reduced to 25% and more generous height exemptions for refurbishments, the Planning Design Standards for Apartments better support challenging urban or infill developments, bringing underutilised or constrained sites into productive use, contributing to regeneration and smart densification.
The new standards reduce the required percentage of dual aspect units from 33% to 25%, and allow more flexibility on floor-to-ceiling heights in refurbishment projects.
4. Core Ratios and Storage Simplified
Mandatory unit-to-core ratios are no longer enforceable under SPPR 5, giving you more design options for layouts.
Also, up to 50% of unit storage can now be located outside the apartment, as long as it’s secure and clearly allocated.
5. Amenity Space Still Matters – But With Options
Private balconies or terraces are still required under the updated Planning Design Standards for Apartments, but exceptions can be requested for tall, windy, or noisy sites.
Communal play and amenity space rules have also been adjusted for more flexibility in urban or infill schemes.
For us, this will allow us to prioritise our future occupants, anticipating their needs and wants from an apartment, while also being able to balance the reality of the site of each development, creating as close to a perfect balance as possible.
6. Less Car Parking, Better Bike Storage
Developments in well-served public transport areas can now eliminate or significantly reduce car parking, particularly where a site is close to good public transport.
These changes will also be supported by enhanced cycle storage standards, further encouraging healthier and greener transport choices.
Sustainable development for the future is the key to creating homes and living spaces that last a lifetime and beyond, and has always been key to our ethos at Whitebox, and this enables us to take our sustainability efforts to new heights.
7. A Return To Shared Living
The Planning Design Standards for Apartments will also formally reintroduce shared accommodation (co-living) as a niche format, distinct from standard apartments.
These types of accommodation may suit specific urban locations or target markets, offering new opportunities, particularly in city centres where compact, serviced living has demand amongst a diverse, mobile population.
8. Clearer Rules on Communal Facilities
Under SPPR 6, cultural or community facilities can only be required if explicitly set out in the local development plan, providing more certainty on what’s needed at the planning stage.
This added predictability reduces planning risk, supporting cost clarity early in the process and ensures that each scheme delivers specifically what the community and the plan requires.
Reducing unexpected planning conditions will afford us greater transparency for our developments while also allowing us to create a strategy for long-term community sustainability.
9. A Focus on Viability
One of the strongest messages in the new Planning Design Standards for Apartments is around economic viability.
They support modern construction methods (MMC) and recognise the need to make apartment delivery feasible while maintaining design quality.
In an ever-growing and demanding built environment, the necessity for greater housing, accommodation and living spaces has never been more vital, via a planning framework that values flexibility, speed, and smart design.
In Summary
The 2025 Planning Design Standards for Apartments reflect a modernised planning framework that supports adaptable, sustainable, and practical delivery.
From flexibility in unit mix and size to smarter storage, amenity, and transport planning, these updates seek to enable scalable apartment development across Ireland in a way that reflects much of our vision of creating long-lasting, community‑centred homes.
Learn more about the changes to Planning Design Standards for Apartments here
At Whitebox, we look forward to adapting to and incorporating the new Planning Design Standards for Apartments, playing a supporting role in shaping what the housing landscape looks like.
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