Rise in permits lifts hope for new housing supply

An increase in the number of planning permits has given some hope that the lack of supply in the new housing will ease in time.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital, said the increase in permits “was a good sign” but that there was still a long way to go before the permit numbers would translate into the construction of a sufficient amount of housing to seriously ease shortages.

The CSO headline figures published yesterday reveal huge percentage increases in the number of permits in the three months to the end of June from a year earlier, but the numbers reflect the start of the recovery from the small number of applications for housing permissions until recently.