Focus on Residential Building
In an article from the Sunday Business Post, dated 31st January 2016, Tina-Marie O’Neill takes a look at the current state of play in the Residential Building Sector. Her highly informative article sources statistics and data from the Building Information Index and CEO Danny O’Shea shines a positive light on improvements being observed through the index. 
Not so quiet on the new homes front
New homes developments are beginning to appear in the greater Dublin area
It is encouraging to see a flurry of new homes schemes either on the market or preparing to launch in the greater Dublin area at this early stage of the year. With average rents in Dublin just shy of the 2007 peak rental figures, an increase in new homes on the market will certainly help alleviate the housing shortage. Despite the positive upswing, a recent forecast report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland put the annual number of homes needed in Dublin at 7,000 and currently the figures fall well short of that. By the end of 2015, just 2,735 homes had received planning permission, prompting the SCSI to argue that the lack of supply continues to put pressure on the “dysfunctional” property market. It also criticised a lack of planning staff in local authorities which translated into long delays on badly needed projects. A small ray of light on that front came from Danny O’Shea of the Building Industry Index. According to O’Shea, the residential sector is on a strong growth trajectory with applications up at the end of 2015 by 29 per cent on the previous year and – more importantly – commencements were up by 98 per cent. As well as that, the average lead-in time for projects to start is reducing. It is currently at about 132 weeks from application to commencement. “This lead-in time has stagnated the industry in recent years, but we have seen it reduce gradually throughout 2015. At the beginning of 2015, the duration stood at 141 weeks. This will continue to reduce throughout 2016, further improving the activity levels in the sector. All of this augers well for increased residential output into 2016 and beyond,” said O’Shea…. To read full article – Not so quiet on the new homes front – Sunday Business Post 31 1 2016
