Number of house construction starts down 30% in June

The total number of homes on which construction began in June was down more than 30 per cent on the same month last year, according to figures from the Department of Housing.

The Central Bank has forecast that about 25,000 new housing units will be built this year, followed by 30,000 homes next year and 35,000 in 2024. That 35,000 figure is roughly the estimated level of demand in the market, although some say it is higher.

According to the Department of Housing, 2,060 commencement notices for new residential homes were received by building control authorities in June. That figure is 30.2 per cent lower than the number of notices received in June 2021.

However, the department noted that the figure for June 2021 included some of the backlog from previous months owing to significant Covid-19 related restrictions on construction activity in early 2021.

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Commencement notices for 29,343 new homes have ben received between July 2021 to June 2022. On a rolling 12 month basis, the total number of commencements received is 7.6 per cent higher than the figure of 27,264 in the previous 12-month period.

Commencement notices data indicate the number of homes on which construction commenced in any given month.

The department said that, with the exception of 2020, when significant restrictions on homebuilding were in place due to the pandemic, the number of homes for which commencement notices were received has increased every year since 2015.

In recent weeks, the International Monetary Fund raised concerns that Ireland needs to do more to resolve housing shortages.

Homelessness has increased by 16 per cent in the last six months with 10,325 people living in emergency homeless accommodation, including more than 3,000 children.

Last month, the Dublin Simon Community reported “huge growth” in the number of women presenting as homeless, and said it was “gravely concerned by the cataclysm caused by the rising number of people entering homelessness each month”.