In the midst of 2024, the UK government’s annual housing objectives are jeopardised due to a deceleration in the completion of new homes. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) data suggests that 6,884 new residences were finalised during the second trimester of the year, reflecting a decrease of 5.4 per cent compared to the same timeline within the previous year. Consequently, the interim yearly sum of completed dwellings has dropped by 8.6 per cent to a total of 12,730.
In the previous year, homebuilding reached its pinnacle since the Celtic Tiger era, with the conclusion of nearly 33,000 units. Present trends however indicate a deceleration in homebuilding, thereby implying that the sector may fall short of the national target of achieving 33,450 residential completions during 2024.
The forthcoming objectives under the Housing for All scheme, which anticipates 36,100 and 36,900 completed units in 2025 and 2026 respectively, may be subject to revision and elevation due to anticipated growth in housing demand.
The CSO’s data posits the decline in residential construction during the late period was primarily due to the decreased completion of apartment units, which noted a 15 per cent decline at 1,566 within the second quarter. This period also recorded 3,949 scheme dwelling completions, marking a 1.8 per cent decline, and 1,369 single home completions, marking a 3 per cent downturn.
The CSO states that over half of the total completions – 57.4 per cent – were scheme dwellings. Apartments constituted 22.7 percent and single dwellings constituted 19.9 percent. The most significant regional fall in construction completions occurred in the mideast region – Kildare, Louth, Meath, and Wicklow – recording a decrease of 19.4 per cent. Dublin followed with the second highest decline of 10.6 per cent.