Cairn Homes to increase housing output by 30% in 2024 

Michael Stanley, Chief Executive Officer of Cairn Homes.

Property developer Cairn Homes said its housing output will increase by nearly 30% this year as demand for its homes remains "exceptionally high" amongst all tenure types.

In a trading statement on Friday ahead of the company's annual general meeting (AGM), the property developer reported positive momentum in its first-time buyer business which it said was helped by "state support for customers, a more favourable mortgage market and the limited supply of competitively priced starter homes."

The developer's current total closed and forward order book now stands at over 2,750 new homes with net sales value above €1.05bn. Over 1,000 of these units will be delivered in 2025 and beyond, the company said. 

It added that its first three forward fund transactions will deliver nearly 1,300 Social & Affordable new homes, with the first transaction of more than 360 homes at Parkside in Dublin expected to close in the short term and the other two transactions expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

The company also agreed on commercial terms for the delivery of 500 student beds in a scaled development, as well as received new grants of planning permission for 1,500 new homes through both the Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) and Strategic Development Zones (SDZ) planning processes.

“We are pleased that our housing output will grow by nearly 30% this year and our forward order book of in excess of €1bn is a testament to the exceptional demand for our homes," said chief executive, Michael Stanley. 

"What is equally pleasing is that the broader industry is ramping up completions and Government initiatives are working.”

In February, the property developer posted a more than 10% rise in annual profits with high demand and record sales completions leading to the firm's "strongest ever financial and operational performance."

The house builder delivered over 1,740 homes in 2023, up from 1,526 in the previous year, generating an 8% rise in revenue totalling €666.8m.