Social housing targets at risk due to construction sector uncertainty

Social housing targets are under pressure due to inflation and uncertainty in the construction industry. Picture: Iain White/Fennell Photography

Inflation and uncertainty within the construction sector may put social housing targets at risk in the next two years, as providers face a “perfect storm” of cost pressures, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.

Pat Doyle, the president of the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) and CEO of the Peter McVerry Trust, said that developers who’d signed up to deliver projects on a certain budget are being “squeezed” by the rise in construction costs and this is making them less willing to bid for future projects.