Construction BUSINESS

Construction of new homes reached a seven-year high in January, as developers look to capitalise on Help to Buy by increasing their output.

Latest figures from the Department of Housing have revealed that approximately 1,244 units were completed across the country in January, up by 35% year on year. These figures are based on electricity connections and mean that 15,256 units were completed in the year to January, the highest level since 2010.

“While question marks remain around the exact number of house completions in Ireland, the conclusions are the same no matter which dataset is used. The Irish housebuilding industry is in a strong recovery phase that has a number of years to go to catch up with underlying demand,” says Dermot O’Leary, chief economist with Goodbody Stockbrokers.

Data from the Department also points to strong growth in the number of new housing starts, with 910 units commenced in January, up by 45% year on year. On an annual basis, approximately 13,334 commencement notices for new homes were submitted in the 12 month period to end January 2017, up by 44% year on year. One-off houses are very much in the minority, with multi-unit developments currently representing 69% of all housing commencements, up from 60% in 2015. Some 60% of the commencements are in the greater Dublin region.