IMF warns housing targets would need to double to meet EU averages

Record investment and current housing completions will 'not be enough to close the housing gap'

Housing targets will only see a return to 2011 levels by 2030. Picture: Denis Minihane

The Government would need to double its annual housing targets to at least 60,000 a year if it is to reach EU averages, but the current system is mired by a slow, complex planning system and a shortage of labour, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

In its latest country report on Ireland, the fund reviewed a number of economic issues the country is facing including the boom in corporation tax receipts, the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund through yearly surpluses, as well the issues being faced with housing affordability.