Government set to fall short of promised number of new homes built
The Appears It 32,695 A Government’s Were Current In Closer The Last Be That Than Homes Figure To Housing This Expected All 2024 40,000 In Trajectory, Built On Total Figure Of Will Of Delivery Of Year
A total of 21,643 new homes were built in Ireland in the first nine months of this year, a fall of more than 3% on the same period last year.
With only three months left, it appears likely that new home delivery in 2024 may fall significantly short of the 40,000 the Government has been touting for several months now.
It comes as stakeholders warned that an “exponential increase” in the number of houses being built each year is needed “so that the rate of house price growth is kept in check”.
New statistics from the Central Statistics Office show that there were 8,939 homes built in the third quarter of this year. While this was a 6.3% increase on the same three months of 2023, the overall number of homes built this year has been lower than last year.
In the first three quarters of 2023, a total of 22,325 homes were built. The fourth quarter of 2023 also saw a sharp uptick in homes completed with the same likely to happen again this year.
This meant that a total of 32,695 homes were built in all of last year. On the current trajectory, it appears that housing delivery in 2024 will be closer to this figure than the Government’s expected figure of 40,000.
At the Béal na Bláth commemoration speech in August, Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “This year, we will exceed our housing targets with almost 40,000 homes built.”
He echoed this in the Dáil this week, telling Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns: “We are in a situation now where we will see close to 40,000 homes delivered this year.”
This expected 40,000 figure is also one that has been used by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, although the actual target in the Housing for All Plan is just over 33,000.
“Some in the opposition (said) they will deliver 60,000 and 70,000,” he said on Wednesday.
“I know as a reality, as someone who took over when we were delivering 20,000 homes a year, the work that has taken to nearly double that output, to hopefully this year to be on or about 40,000.”
It all comes against the backdrop of updated housing targets expected to be outlined by the Government ahead of this year’s general election, which are expected to significantly increase the number of homes it wants to build each year.
New Dwelling Completions in Q3 2024 were up 6.3% from same quarter last yearhttps://t.co/pA1dx4i1Xu#CSOIreland #Ireland #Housing #HousingConstruction #HouseBuilding #NewDwellings #PropertyPrices #HousePrices #PlanningPermissions #IrishBusiness #BusinessStatistics #BusinessNews pic.twitter.com/xHcnLBiKMV
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) October 24, 2024
However, the Government has been warned that if it is to hit the likes of 50,000 new homes a year, much work is needed.
Ian Lawlor, managing director of Roundtower Capital which lends to developers, pointed out that industry analysts have forecast a “figure closer to last year’s total of about 33,000”.
“So it’s clear there still needs to be an exponential increase in the number of houses being built so that young people here have a chance of owning their own home and so that the rate of house price growth is kept in check,” he said.
“The big wildcard is the general election around the corner. It will be interesting to see what impact the general election will have on this country’s housing crisis. It would be important that any progress achieved in housing today is not scuppered if there’s a change of leadership or Cabinet reshuffle.”