Sinn Féin has stepped up its efforts to get rid of co-living developments across the country.

The party has published a new Bill which looks to ban the developments and put an end to other developer-led changes implemented by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

Introducing the Planning and Development (Excessive Ministerial Power Repeal) Bill 2019, Eoin Ó Broin said: "This Bill seeks to repeal an amendment made to the Planning and Development Act by then Minister Alan Kelly in 2015 which gave the Minister the power to impose planning guidelines on local authorities despite what was democratically agreed by local councillors in their county and city development plans.

"While previously a Minister could only use such power with Oireachtas approval. Minister Kelly's amendment dispensed with this democratic nicety amounting to a substantial power grab further centralising planning powers with the Minister and his Department.

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"This power is what gave us the Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments — Guidelines for Planning Authorities published in March 2018 and the Urban Development and Building Heights Guidelines for Planning Authorities published in December 2018.

"These mandatory guidelines have removed restrictions on apartment building heights, decreased apartment sizes, increased the permissible number of small studio apartments in a single development, increased the number of apartments per lift or stairwell in developments and reduced the number of dual aspect apartments per development.

"They also provided even greater flexibility in built-to-let apartment developments and introduced co-living permitting minimum micro apartments of 12 m sq."

Deputy Ó Broin added: "The Planning and Development (Excessive Ministerial Power Repeal) Bill 2019 repeals this controversial power and the subsequent guidelines. This will allow individual local authorities to determine the most appropriate planning frameworks for their county development plans. It would mean an end to the spectacle of co-living and other developer led changes made under Minister Murphy."

This new Bill follows a warning from Labour last month over the potential introduction of a super-tax on co-living units across Ireland.

(CM/MH)