Government's housing plans 'in tatters' after targets missed

The number of new homes built in Ireland fell by 6.7% last year. Picture: Denis Minihane

The Government's housing plans are "in tatters", the opposition has claimed, after CSO figures show it fell significantly short of meeting its new homes target.

The number of new homes built in Ireland fell by 6.7% last year, with the number of completions significantly lower than Government targets and forecasts. Figures from the CSO, based on connections to the electricity network, show there were 30,330 new dwelling completions in the whole of 2024, down from the 32,525 completed in 2023.

The drop was largely due to a 24.1% fall in the number of apartments completed. The number of one-off homes built also fell by 2.2% to 5,367. The number of homes in housing schemes and estates rose by 4.6% to 16,200.

The drop in housing completions means the Government has missed its Housing for All target of 33,000 by a significant margin. That figure was generally viewed as a conservative one, with the demand for new homes estimated by various bodies at between 40,000 and 50,000 homes each year in order to resolve the ongoing shortage.

At the Béal na Bláth commemoration speech last August, then taoiseach Simon Harris said: “This year, we will exceed our housing targets, with almost 40,000 homes built.”

He echoed this in the Dáil again in October, telling Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns: “We are in a situation now where we will see close to 40,000 homes delivered this year.”

Then housing minister Darragh O'Brien, who was moved by Taoiseach Micheál Martin to the transport brief today, told the Dáil in October that Ireland would deliver "close to 40,000" homes.

Opposition politicians said the CSO figures show that a reset of housing policy was needed.

Eoin Ó Broin: Government failed to reform public and social housing output. Picture: Damien Storan

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the Government had failed to reform public and social housing output and this had led to sluggish delivery.

“The Government’s housing plan is in tatters. Their public and private housing targets for last year were too low. The Government has not only missed their social and affordable housing targets but also their overall target."

A Department of Housing spokesperson said that while the new dwelling completion figures published by the CSO today  were "disappointing", the medium-term outlook "remains strong".

"There is consensus across the board that 2025 will see a very significant increase in new homes built," they said "This is underpinned by a robust pipeline which has seen an extraordinary boost in commencement activity in 2024."