75. (1) The provisions of this Part shall, subject to subsections (2) and (10), apply to—

(a) an application for permission for the development of 5 or more dwellings on land which is relevant public land on the day on which this section comes into operation, or

(b) where such an application relates to a mixture of developments, to that part of the application which relates to the development of dwellings on such land,

in addition to the provisions of section 34 and, where applicable, Part V of the Act of 2000.

(2) The Government may, by order, at the request of the Minister, exempt relevant public land from the provisions of this Part where the land—

(a) is owned by a body which the Government is satisfied is required to act in a commercial manner and the sale of which has been consented to by—

(i) any Minister of the Government that holds shares in the body, and

(ii) the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,

subject to the re-investment of the proceeds of such sale by the body for the purposes of the performance of its functions,

(b) is referred to in Schedule 3 to the Grangegorman Development Agency Act 2005 and owned by Technological University Dublin, or

(c) is owned by a local authority that wishes to dispose of the land in order to use the proceeds of such sale for the purposes of the performance of its public functions.

(3) A planning authority, or the Board on appeal, shall require as a condition of a grant of permission that the applicant, or any other person with an interest in the land to which the application relates, prior to the lodgement of a commencement notice within the meaning of Part II of the Building Control Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 496 of 1997), enter into an agreement with the planning authority, providing, in accordance with this Part, for the matters referred to in subsection (4).

(4) An agreement under this section shall provide for the specified percentage, or such other percentage as the Minister may prescribe under section 77, of the dwellings to be built on the land which is subject to the application for permission, of such description as may be specified in the agreement, to be built and—

(a) designated and leased as cost rental dwellings, or

(b) transferred on completion—

(i) to the ownership of the planning authority, or

(ii) to the ownership of eligible applicants nominated by the housing authority in accordance with a direct sales agreement within the meaning of the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

(5) Where dwellings are to be transferred to the planning authority in accordance with an agreement under this section, the price of such dwellings shall be determined on the basis of—

(a) the site cost of the dwelling (calculated in accordance with section 55), and

(b) the costs, including normal construction costs and profit on those costs and development costs, calculated at open market rates that would have been incurred by the planning authority had it retained an independent builder to undertake the works, including the appropriate share of any common development works, as agreed between the authority and the developer.

(6) An applicant for permission shall, when making an application to which this section applies, specify the manner in which he or she would propose to comply with a condition to which subsection (3) relates were the planning authority to attach such a condition to any permission granted on foot of such application, and where the planning authority grants permission to the applicant subject to any such condition it shall have regard to any proposals so specified.

(7) For the purposes of an agreement under this section, the planning authority shall consider—

(a) the proper planning and sustainable development of the area to which the application relates,

(b) the housing strategy and the specific objectives of the development plan which relate to the implementation of the strategy,

(c) the need to ensure the overall coherence of the development to which the application relates, where appropriate,

(d) the need to counteract segregation in housing between persons of different social background in the area to which the application relates, and

(e) the time within which housing is likely to be provided as a consequence of the agreement.

(8) An agreement under this section shall identify the dwellings to be transferred, or as the case may be, designated as cost rental dwellings, whether in one or more parts.

(9) A dwelling that is the subject of an agreement referred to in section 96 of the Act of 2000 shall not be reckoned in determining whether or not the condition imposed by this section has been complied with.

(10) This section shall not apply to applications for permission for development consisting of the provision of houses by a body approved for the purposes of section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, for the provision of housing required for households assessed under section 20 of the Act of 2009 as being qualified for social housing support, where such houses are to be made available for letting or sale.

(11) In this section, “specified percentage” —

(a) in relation to housing to be built on land located in the area of a town (including all the environs of the town for the purpose of the census of the population concerned) the population of which, when rounded to the nearest 500 as shown on the latest census report of the Central Statistics Office, is equal or greater to 150,000, means 80 per cent,

(b) in relation to housing to be built on any other land, means 50 per cent.