The rate of new housing commencements has fallen to levels last recorded six years ago and below the 10-year average, new Department of Housing data has shown.
Last week the Minister for Housing James Browne announced “strong momentum” as construction started on 2,099 units in May, a 103 per cent increase on 1,035 in May 2025.
The same data set released by the Department of Housing has shown that 24,499 units were commenced between June 2025 and May 2026, the fourth-lowest level in a decade.
Similar levels of homebuilding were last recorded in 2019 and 2020, when 24,438 and 23,617 new homes were started in each comparable 12-month period.
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In response to the trend, a Department of Housing spokesman said January to May 2026 recorded the second highest commencement total since the department started to track commencements in 2015.
Some 13,000 homes were commenced since the beginning of this year, which was an increase of 161 per cent on the 5,033 homes in the first five months of last year.
The 24,499 home commencements recorded on a rolling basis to the end of May 2026 was below the 10-year average of 28,533 homes.
The latest levels are down on the 27,855 start rate in the year that ended in May 2023, and 30,233 rate recorded between June 2021 and May 2022.
In 2023 and 2024 commencement levels spiked due to incentives introduced by the Government, with 52,665 and 41,493 homes begun on 12-month rolling periods that ended in May.
This rise came after the state granted home builders waivers on local authority charges and refunds on water connection fees if they started construction in these years. In the 2024 calendar year commencement levels peaked at 69,000 homes.
A department spokesman said the fall in commencements in 2025 “was not unexpected” given the large number lodged in the two years previous.
Commenting on the latest commencement data last week, Browne said it was “encouraging to see such strong figures”.
“This month’s figures indicate momentum is still moving in the right direction,” Browne added.
In April The Irish Times reported that Government officials have raised concerns that the commencements observed in recent years may not translate into completed houses or apartments.
An internal Department of Housing document said many builders rushed to take advantage of the waivers associated with homebuilding by registering commencements in advance of deadlines but that some projects were not progressing.
Officials said they believed developers were either stretching out build times or that construction had not always started.
