Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
79. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the number of housing commencements in Carlow to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32971/23]
View answerData on the commencement of residential new builds are published monthly on my Department's website at gov.ie - Construction Activity Statistics (www.gov.ie).
The most recent data show 52 homes commenced construction in Carlow from January to May this year, up 30% on the same period last year.
The increase in new home commencements in Carlow reflects an upward trend nationally over the last three quarters. Almost 28,000 homes commenced construction nationwide in the year to end-May 2023. More than 3,000 of these were commenced in May, an increase of 11% on the same month in 2022.
The strong uptick in commencements in Q4 2022 has continued into the first five months of 2023, with almost 13,000 commencements from January to May, the most for this period since records began in 2014 and 7% higher than the in same in period last year.
Housing for All is working and delivery is increasing. We have made a very positive start to 2023 across the key leading construction indicators. More than 6,700 homes were completed in Q1 2023, the most completions since Q1 2011; while almost 31,000 homes were completed in the 12-months to end-March 2023, the first time since 2009 rolling 12-month home completions surpassed 30,000.
In addition, a strong pipeline of social and affordable housing exists, with over 19,000 new-build social homes in the pipeline and over 2,700 more local authority affordable homes already approved for funding, along with further affordable housing being planned by the LDA and Approved Housing Bodies.
I am optimistic, given recent upward trends in planning permissions, commencements and completions, that we will meet our overall targets for new homes in 2023 and the recent substantial uplift can be sustained into 2024 and 2025.
