Home starts rise amid vacant units

A significant increase in house-building is still nowhere near to fulfilling demand for new homes, while the number of vacant residential properties remains at a high level, figures from GeoDirectory, the database of addresses compiled by An Post and the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, suggest.

According to the GeoDirectory, construction of new homes, or commencements, reached 7,457 this month, up by 50% from a year ago, and consistent with Department of Housing figures that suggest the construction of at least 17,151 new homes got underway in 2017 — an increase of 37% from 2016. There were 10,000 vacant residential units in Cork city and county, and 5,000 in Dublin.