Responding to the latest CSO release on dwelling completions, Dr. David Duffy, Director of Property Industry Ireland (PII), the Ibec group for businesses working in the property sector, said: “Before the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the economy and society it would appear that homebuilding had been recovering, with completions in quarter 1, 2020 up 17% on the same quarter in 2019.”

“Given the closure of the majority of sites in response to measures to restrict the spread of the virus we expect a marked contraction in output in quarter 2. Ongoing distancing and health and safety measures will mean output is likely to be lower than previously expected for the rest of the year.

“It now seems likely that housing completions for 2020 could be as low as 16,000. This is down by up to 17% on 2019, below what was anticipated at the start of the year, and well below new household formation even accounting for a fall in immigration.
“The scale of the economic impact means we must support households who will need help to purchase homes through this challenging times. We must remember the lesson from the last crisis – home-building has a long lead-in time and uncertainty about the level of demand will negatively impact on investment decisions and contribute to a supply imbalance in future years.”