Home completions up 2% in first quarter of 2025 – CSO
There was a 2% increase in the number of completions in the first three months of this year in comparison to the same time last year, according to the latest figures on home building from the Central Statistics Office.
The CSO said there was a 13.4% rise in apartment building with 1,781 units completed but single dwellings were down 3.5% at 1,137 and houses in estates fell 1.7% to 3,020.
While the figures show a marginal increase in the first three months of this year, the Government has targeted a total of 41,000 new homes in 2025 which would be a substantial increase on last year’s total output of 30,330.
Last year’s total fell far short of the Government’s target of 40,000 for 2024.
The CSO said the figures for the first three months of this year show that nearly a third (32%) of completions in Dublin, with more than a fifth (20.8%) in the Mid-East region (Louth, Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow).
Six of the eight regions of Ireland saw a rise in completions from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.
“The region with the largest relative increase in completions was the West (Galway City and County, Mayo, and Roscommon) at 5.8%, while the Border (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, and Sligo) region saw the second largest relative growth at 5%,” the CSO said.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne said the figures will be very much welcomed by the almost 6,000 families who will avail of these homes.
He said he wants to scale up delivery as rapidly as possible so we can see much greater increases in the future.
“Soon I will be putting in place a dedicated housing activation office team to focus on the ‘problem’ areas which are most in need of attention to get building moving – to identify sites for housing delivery and unlock them, to call out where the system is lagging, and to impose the solutions we need,” Mr Browne said.
He also said he will establish An Coimisiún Pleanála in the coming weeks to replace An Bord Pleanála.
“This new body, with a changed organisational structure, will have mandatory statutory deadlines – accelerating crucial planning decisions and reducing delays in court,” he said.
But Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the figures from the CSO are disappointing but not surprising.
He said they show that new housing output is at about the same level as the first three months of 2024.
“What the data does confirm is that the dramatic increase in commencement notices in April last year hasn’t resulted in increased supply. Indeed, many of these units clearly weren’t commenced,” he said.
“The Government’s target of 41,000 new homes for 2025 is clearly in jeopardy based on today’s CSO completion figures,” he added.
Article Source – Home completions up 2% in first quarter of 2025 – CSO – RTE