Uncertainty around apartment standards is hindering the supply of new homes, Goodbody Stockbrokers has warned.
The firm’s latest housebuilding tracker shows that while the number of housing units being built in the State continues to grow, the rate of expansion has slowed in recent months, mainly because of a fall-off apartment completions.
There were just 407 apartments completed in the first four months of 2018, a 3 per cent decline on the same period last year.
Goodbody said uncertainty around apartment standards was to blame for delaying the commencement of apartment projects in Dublin and elsewhere.
In 2015, the then minister for housing Alan Kelly lowered the minimum size of apartments and changed other regulations in a bid to promote more apartment building.
Apartment heights
However, more recently the Government's focus has been on easing the restrictions on apartment heights. The current Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, has indicated that further planning changes are required to allow the development of more high-rise building in cities.
“To reach the required output levels without a continuing sprawl from the main cities, a large increase in apartment output is required,” Goodbody said, while noting the Republic has the lowest share of apartments in its housing stock than any country in European Union.
Goodbody’s report shows some 3,223 housing units were completed in the first four months of 2018, including 847 in April, representing an annual growth rate of 36 per cent.
New housing completions
The Goodbody numbers are based on homes issued with a Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate and differ from the official figures, which infer a building rate from electricity connections.
Regionally, Dublin continues to account for the largest share of new housing completions with 45 per cent of the total.
However, the mid-east region is increasing its share, accounting for 25 per cent of the total in the first four months of the year.
This reflects greater land availability in this region, Goodbody said, while demand remains strong in these commuting counties due to affordability constraints among some buyers in the capital.
