House construction expected to keep rising - report

There is no slowdown expected in the supply of new homes this year.

Construction consulting group Davis Langdon PKS (DLPKS) says construction is to continue its remarkably strong performance and that we are now at the top of the construction market.

Ireland is on track to build 80,000 homes this year, according to the company. There were 87,000 built in 2005. And that was four times higher than the figure in 1994.

DLPKS says it expects the volume of new building to grow by 1% in 2006, with another 80,000 new homes being completed. This would be just below 2005's record figure.

DLPKS managing director Norman Craig told myhome.ie that residential construction represented 64% of the total volume of construction output in 2005.

He said: “We believe there will be a slow decline in the number of completions as the market demand is met and as the demographic figures require fewer houses”.

However, he added that the company does not believe there will be a dramatic fall in the number of new houses being built.

DLPKS's review of the industry said general construction - covering areas such as offices, shops, hotels, hospitals and schools - would grow significantly in 2006, helped by decentralisation and the third-level investment package announced in the Budget.