A leading planning professor and adviser to government has called for changes to building standards for high density and build-to-rent apartments because inadequate ventilation and crowded buildings pose an infection risk during a pandemic.
Orla Hegarty, Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at UCD told RTÉ's News at One that "housing changes in recent years for more density may need to be reassessed in light of public health" and that in some cases people are living and working in what amounts to a "sealed boxes" which are not "adequately ventilated". "We need to look at apartment standards again very closely - particularly for build-to-rent apartments.