Too few houses being built, says CIF in Cork, so a shortage is inevitable

Cork city and county are crying out for new houses and major infrastructural projects, so as to head off shortages in future, say senior figures in the region’s construction industry.

The claim is made in the annual report of the Cork branch of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), which will be presented at the AGM on March 2 at the Maryborough House Hotel.

The annual report, written by CIF director for the southern region, Joseph O’Brien (who is to retire in May, with no successor yet appointed) focuses on issues affecting the industry locally and nationally, as it reasserts itself following the economic crash.

While construction output nationally is now €10bn, down from its peak, in 2007, of €37.5bn, output in Cork is €1.1bn. The report says the industry has been “over-corrected” since the excesses of the Celtic Tiger and Mr O’Brien warns there could be a “significant housing shortage over the coming years”.

He says output locally needs to double. Just 1,153 houses were completed in Cork city and county last year. While the location of the Cork Events Centre is welcome, the report calls for “critical infrastructural projects” to get underway.

“No new major projects are due to commence in Cork in 2015, yet much-needed and economically sustainable projects, such as improvements to the Dunkettle Interchange, the N28 to Ringaskiddy, the Macroom by-pass and the M20 Cork-Limerick Motorway, are still awaiting the go-ahead,” says the report.

Mr O’Brien highlights a shortage of residential housing stock in the region, while new lending rules from the Central Bank may hamper people’s efforts to buy their own home.

The CIF says that Cork needs 2,500 new units each year. “This is a far cry from the present level of activity being undertaken,” Mr O’Brien says, adding that there is a shortage, with available stock down 37% compared with last July.

The report also highlights progress on the Cork County Council Development Plan and Joint Housing Strategy: the Cork branch of CIF initially felt the plan had an “over-ambitious” target population growth for the city and, thereby, an artificial reduction in the targeted population growth for the county — this was was rectified following consultation. Local Area Plans are now at various stages of review and should be completed this year.

Other issues include the need for more people to undertake apprenticeships in construction, banks not lending and NAMA having, “in effect, an almost 100% monopoly”, with Mr O’Brien claiming NAMA has “a long way to go” in advancing finance.

The report also raises fears about contractors from outside the State securing contracts here, “at rates that are unsustainable”, and calls for the implementation of the Construction Contracts Act, 2013.