Housing commencements surged to over 60,000 last year, a level not seen since the Celtic Tiger era.
Commencement notices for the construction of 60,243 new homes were received by the Building Control Management System (BCMS) in 2024. That represented an 84 per cent increase on the 32,801 recorded in 2023.
The headline figure was the highest number of housing starts achieved since the previous construction boom of the mid 2000s.
The surge in residential commencement notices in 2024 was, however, accelerated by waivers on development levies and rebates on water charges. These were originally due to expire in April causing a surge in commencement notices at that time but were later extended.
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“Strong figures on home starts in 2024 confirm that a robust stock of new housing is in the pipeline,” Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said.
“Government initiatives such as the development levy waiver and the Úisce Éireann rebate have had a positive impact in getting projects off the ground with the ultimate goal of increasing our housing supply to meet housing needs.
“This significant rise in housing supply will enable more people to become homeowners and also help increase access to a wider range of secure housing options.”
The Government last year revised up its house building objectives, targeting 303,000 completions in the period from 2025-2030. That objective was repeated in the newly formed coalition’s programme for government.
Of all the homes commenced last yea, the latest figures show 34 per cent were in the four Dublin local authorities (20,712 homes). By Local authority, the most homes commenced were in Dublin City (7,116) followed by Fingal (5,770) and South Dublin County (4728).
The highest outside of Dublin was Cork City (4,384) while the lowest number of homes commenced was in Leitrim (101), Carlow (213) and Longford (248).
Minister of State at the Department of Housing Alan Dillon said: “The milestone of over 60,000 new homes commenced in 2024 is a testament to the effectiveness of targeted Government measures aimed at addressing the housing challenge.
“This record figure of commencements will deliver new homes for families, couples and individuals right across the country.”
The Central Bank is projecting home completions to increase to 37,500, 41,000 and 43,500 units in 2025, 2026 and 2027 respectively.
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