Building of new homes doubles in past year

Work on the construction of new homes has more than doubled over the past year.

Planning applications for houses has also increased in most counties, according to the National Housing Construction Index.

The recovery in residential construction continued for the first four months of 2014, with the number of new planning applications and commencement notices both showing significant increases compared to the same period last year.

Project commencement notices rose substantially in the first four months of 2014, with an increase of 132% nationally, compared to the same period in 2013.

In addition, 16 of the 26 counties experienced increases in planning applications submitted, compared to the same period last year.

The largest gains across the country for commencement notices took place in Westmeath (up 538%), Monaghan (up 265%), Sligo (up 248%), Cork (up 231%) and Mayo (up 206%), with the lowest increases taking place in Roscommon (up 41%), Wicklow (up 56%), Kerry (up 58%), Cavan (up 61%), Louth (up 63%), and Dublin (up 77%).

“The 132% increase in the number of commencement notices for March and April continued the positive trend shown in the first two months of 2014, but there has been a fall from the phenomenal increases of 192% seen in January and February of 2014,” said Danny O’Shea, managing director of Link2Plans, a web-based gateway that tracks the industry and produces the index.

“This can be attributed to the rush at the beginning of the 2014 to get commencement notices lodged before the new building regulations came into force on March 1, and we would expect this downward trend to continue into the second quarter of 2014. But overall, we would still anticipate an increase year on year.

“Generally, the economic outlook for the construction sector is quite positive at the moment, with a recent report showing a three-fold increase in the number of jobs on offer in the construction and property sector in Ireland during May 2014, when compared to May 2013.”

The number of planning applications for the first four months of 2014 rose nationally by 19%, compared to the same period last year.

However, they showed greater volatility compared to construction commencements, with some notable falls in applications.

Dublin recorded the biggest increase in planning applications, up 61%.

There were also some large increases in planning applications for Waterford (up 58%), Offaly (up 47%), Galway (up 41%), Wicklow (up 39%), Kerry (up 37%), Meath (up 35%), and Westmeath (up 26%).

Some 10 counties recorded falls in applications, with the largest occurring in Leitrim (down 52%), Clare (down 27%), Laois (down 21%), Sligo (down 19%), Carlow (down 19%), and Cork (down 14%).