There was a decrease of 12.5 per cent in the total number of dwelling units approved for planning permission in the second quarter, with the number of apartments down by more than a fifth, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The number dropped to 7,447 units from 8,513 units when compared with the same period last year. Houses accounted for 63 per cent of all dwellings granted permission, while apartments made up the balance.
The number of houses granted permission fell by 6.4 per cent when compared with last year, while apartment approvals – seen as a crucial element in solving the housing crisis – decreased by 21.4 per cent.
The number of multi-development houses that got planning permission declined by 7.5 per cent annually, from 3,852 units to 3,565.
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The CSO warned caution should be exercised in extrapolating long-term trends on the basis of a single quarter’s data as numbers can vary significantly if a large development or a number of large developments are approved within the same reference quarter.
While there was a 3.2 per cent decrease in the number of one-off houses receiving planning permission, the fall-off eased from the 4.5 per cent annual fall recorded in the first quarter.
There was an increase of 7.3 per cent in the number of individual planning permissions granted for all developments with 7,058 permissions approved compared with 6,575 last year.
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Across the four local authorities in Dublin, there was an annual decline of 35.5 per cent in the total number of dwelling units approved.
Within that, the number of houses approved was down by 45 per cent (1,062 units to 583 units) compared with a fall of 30 per cent (1,754 units to 1,233 units) in the number of apartments approved.
Dublin still had the highest number of apartment units granted permission in the State at 1,233, or 45 per cent of all apartments. The capital also accounted for 12 per cent of house units approved (583).
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These 1,816 dwelling units approved in Dublin made up almost a quarter of all dwelling units granted permission in the quarter.
During the same period, the midlands region (Laois, Longford, Offaly, and Westmeath) recorded the lowest number of apartment units granted planning permission at 72.
The mideast region (Louth, Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow) accounted for the highest number of houses (893) granted planning, while the midwest region (Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary) recorded the lowest number for houses (247).
In terms of the number of strategic housing developments, there was annual growth of 1.9 per cent (2,418 to 2,465) in the number of units approved. Within that, the number of houses rose by 7 per cent, compared with a fall of 2.7 per cent for apartments.
