200 Social Midlands Houses Delivered In Q3

Thursday, 14 December 2023 17:41

The latest Construction Status Report indicates there's over 20,000 homes in the pipeline nationally.

Over 200 social houses were brought on stream in the midlands in the third quarter of the year.

New figures from the Department of Housing show both Laois and Offaly delivered 82 homes each between July and September.

That's an increase of nearly 60 in Offaly on Quarter 2's figures, but a reduction of almost 80 in Laois.

Westmeath County Council delivered the third lowest number of social homes in the country in Q3, with 51- that's a drop of 11 on the previous quarter.

The number of social homes brought on stream up to September of this year already exceeds the total figure for 2022, and the Government expects the strongest quarter of delivery will be Q4.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien says:

"The current social housing pipeline indicates that last year’s record will be exceeded this year.

The latest Construction Status Report shows the social housing pipeline is strong, with over 23,600 homes either onsite or at design and tender stage at the end of Q3 2023.

Indeed, during Quarter 3 2023, 160 new construction schemes - almost 2,200 new homes - were added to the pipeline.

This delivery of social housing reflects the improvement in the overall housing sector, where 26,547 homes have been commenced in the first ten months of 2023 - a 16.6% increase on the same period last year.

Furthermore, the latest CSO data on completions shows that that 22,443 new homes were completed in the first nine months, an 8.9 % increase on last year and the highest number of completions recorded for the first three quarters of any year since the CSO data series began in 2011.

This week we had more great news as Housing Body Respond announced several new home-building construction projects in Dublin that will deliver over 2,900 new social and cost rental homes upon completion.

I am also aware that there will be news shortly from the Land Development Agency regarding the delivery of significant numbers of new social and affordable homes.

We have a gathering momentum in the delivery of homes – whether private, social or affordable – and we intend to keep our foot on the pedal throughout 2024 to build on this progress."