Construction projects’ value rises over €1 billion in first half of 2016
New figures provided by the Building Information Index suggest that the value of construction projects in Ireland has risen significantly when compared with the previous year.
In the first half of 2016, the value of construction project commencements increased by €1.12 billion, or 44%, to €3.69 billion.
Five of the seven sectors examined registered growth, with the education sector providing the highest proportion of project value, rising 148%. Other sectors who improved in this regard were the industrial, residential, commercial and medical projects sectors.
The index did, however, pinpoint a stasis in applications. This measure looks at the value of construction projects that have applied for planning permission in the first six months of the year. Here, an extremely high fall off in residential applications were identified which is indicative of some the recent warnings concerning the lack of suitable supply in the housing market.
The report states: “Dublin, Munster and Connacht/Ulster experienced a strong year on year increase in value of residential commencements. Leinster was down across all three metrics (applications, grants and commencements) and new applications were down in Dublin.”
The figures are compiled by Building Information Ireland using real time planning and project information.
