Housing completions up 5.4% in first half despite slowdown

The number of housing units completed in the State increased by about 5.4 per cent in the first six months of the year but the pace of new completions tapered off in the three months to the end of June, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said. The second-quarter slowdown was particularly apparent in the apartment sector.

A total of 7,353 new dwellings of all types were completed in the second quarter of the year. Added to the 6,716 units completed in the first quarter of 2023, it brings to 14,069 the total number of units finished in the year so far.

However, the number of completions in the three months to the end of June was down 3.5 per cent on the same period last year, driven by a steep decline in apartment completions.

Some 1,897 apartments were brought to completion over the period, down 18.7 per cent on the second quarter of 2022. Dwellings completed as part of a scheme development, meanwhile, increased by 2 per cent to 4,017 representing more than half (54.6 per cent) of the total.

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Single dwelling completions were also up by 7.2 per cent in the quarter to 1,439.

On a regional basis, the year-on-year changes varied, the CSO said, with falls in completions in Dublin and the Border, midwest, and southwest regions, but growth in the midlands, West, mid-east and southeast regions.

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CSO statistician Justin Anderson said: “There was a decrease in completions in four regions from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023, with the relative drop highest in the midwest (27.6 per cent), and falls also in the Dublin (11.6 per cent), Border (9 per cent), and southwest (3.8 per cent) regions.

“The region with the biggest relative increase from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023 was the southeast (21.1 per cent) with rises also in the midlands (17.2 per cent), west (5.1 per cent) and mid-east (4.7 per cent) regions.

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“The most completions in Q2 2023 were in Dublin (2,393) and the mid-east (1,708), with more than half (55.8 per cent) of completions this quarter in these two regions. More than four-fifths (83.8 per cent) of apartment completions this quarter were in these two regions.”

The local electoral area (LEA) with the largest volume of completions, meanwhile, was Glencullen-Sandyford in Dublin where there were 548 completions, more than double that in Lucan, the second most active LEA, Mr Anderson said.

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There is broad consensus that the number of housing units completed this year will fall short of last year’s total of 29,000 and well below the Government’s original Housing for All Target of 33,000.

In a report published last week, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland said it expects some 27,000 units to be completed, with builders facing “constraints due to shortages in labour and materials, along with ongoing rises in construction input costs”.

“The rise in material prices is affecting the supply of new homes, leading to concerns regarding the feasibility of certain projects,” it said. The body said inflation remains “prevalent in various construction sectors”, as evidenced by a “significant 11.5 per cent increase in tender prices throughout 2022″.

The Central Bank said last month it expects roughly 27,500, short of the Government’s revised target of 29,000 new units.