The latest quarterly bulletin from the Central Bank paints a picture of an economy which has expanded significantly since the start of the decade, but with housing and other infrastructure struggling to keep up. A key issue is speed of delivery and the report performs a useful function by analysing this.
It does not make comfortable reading. The Central Bank economists looked at planning permissions over the years and how quickly they turn into completed houses. Around one quarter of the housing units granted planning permission never get built. This is high by international standards, but has remained steady over recent years.
Where there is a difference over the past decade is in the speed of delivery for the homes that are built. For houses completed so far this year, for example, the average time from lodgement of a planning application to completion was four years, twice as long as a decade ago. In the midst of a housing crisis – and despite talk in numerous official documents about modern methods of construction and how they could speed things up - delivery is slowing down, rather than speeding up.
In the short-term, increasing the number of completions will depend largely on speeding the building of units already underway. The problem of long planning approval times – which peaked in 2022 due to the crisis in An Bord Pleanála – has been largely addressed, with the body reconstituted as An Coimisiún Pleanála.
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There has been some lengthening of the time between the granting of approval and the start of construction, but the main problem is that the actual building work now takes much longer. The precise reasons are not clear, but are likely to relate in part to delays getting water, sewerage and electricity connections. Skilled labour shortages and rising costs are also likely to be contributing
The Government has introduced a programme to accelerate the provision of key infrastructure. The Central Bank report shows how crucial this is and how action at every stage of the process is essential if there is to be a further rise in vital new home completions.
