Housing completions tipped to pass 41,000 for first time since the crash

The pace of construction of new residential homes here is on course to now significantly outpaces European peers, according to the EY-Euroconstruct report, published ahead of a major conference in conference in Stockholm

Researchers for the EY-Euroconstruct, have revised up forecasts for completions this year to 36,000 and 41,000 in 2025. Those numbers are above the 35,000 homes a year targetted under existing government policy but below the 50,000 target widely anticipated to be adopted by the Coalition.

In December Euroconstruct had forecasted 33,450 new housing completions this year.

Director at EY Economic Advisory and member of Euroconstruct, Annette Hughes, said completions next year will be the highest since 2008 and is running ahead of a European trend.

“This pace of new housing growth in Ireland, the fastest in Europe when measured on a per-population basis, is a significant outlier when compared to the European average as assessed by Euroconstruct members, where supply is projected to contract in both 2024 and 2025,” she said.

She cited a range of factors for the acceleration in output here, including policy interventions to speed up the delivery and drive down the cost of construction, particularly for the delivery of affordable and cost-rental housing as well as a shift within the construction sector from office to residential projects.

“The extension of temporary waivers (of local authority levies), which have spurred a significant increase in commencements notices in recent months, are expected to result in the highest level of completions since 2008 next year,” she said.

The report suggests Irish housing completions will be strongest among 19 European countries reviewed, per head of population.

Overall Irish construction output is projected to grow by 3.9pc this year and 5.7pc in 2025

Total Irish construction output, which also includes non-residential and civil engineering, is forecast to grow but non-residential building is expected to be flat.

Total construction activity in the 19 Euroconstruct countries is expected to contract by 2.7pc in 2024, before recovering by 1.3pc next year as the interest rate environment shifts.

EY Ireland is the Irish member of the Euroconstruct network, an independent construction market forecasting network active in 19 European countries, which is holding its 97th conference in Stockholm, Sweden today.