ESRI: New house builds to fall this year in Covid-19 fallout

Work and machinery at a standstill at a housing development in Cork during the coronavirus lockdown. Picture: Denis Minihane.

The Covid-19 economic shock waves will mean new house builds will fall far short of what is required this year and next year, storing up further problems in terms of prices and rents in an already dysfunctional Irish property market, the Economic and Social Research Institute has warned.