At least 40,000 homes will have to be built this year to satisfy demand, a peer-to-peer lender has said. A report from Initiative Ireland suggests the construction industry is falling far short of this, having built fewer than 9,500 properties in 2017.

The syndicated finance group, based at University College Dublin’s NovaUCD new-venture centre, forecast a need for 480,000 new homes across the State by 2031, with an average of 34,000 a year. Half will be needed in the Greater Dublin Area. The southwest and mideast will require more than 71,000 and 63,000 new properties, respectively, by 2031. The midwest and midlands will need the fewest, at 22,000 and 27,000.

“While there have been multiple public and private reports issued recently on the subject, most reference data sources, they openly acknowledge, are significantly flawed,” said Padraig Rushe, Initiative Ireland’s chief executive.