Fewer than 2,000 homes built

FEWER than 2,000 new houses were registered in the first five months of this year compared with almost 8,000 in the same period last year, figures from the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) have shown.

The number of new houses registered has fallen sharply this year with some rural areas seeing a 95% drop.

Counties with the biggest drop were Mayo, which saw registrations fall by 95% – from 152 to seven – Donegal by 95%, from 298 to 13 and Leitrim by 90%.