[Article] Figures show housing demand greater than ever

Victor

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/02/19/story134989.html

Figs show housing demand greater than ever
19/02/2004 - 4:21:58 pm

New figures from the Department of Environment have shown the demand for housing is greater than ever.

A record 69,000 houses were built last year, up almost 20% on the previous year.

The increase in population and the decline in the average household size is being credited.

http://www.onbusiness.ie/2004/0219/housing.html

2003 house numbers 'staggering'
February 19, 2004 (20:01)

There was a 19.3% increase in new house completions in 2003 compared to the previous year, according to figures released today from the Department of the Environment.

The total number of new house completions in 2003 was 68,819 compared to 57,695 in 2002. The number of completions in 1996 was 33,725. Between 1996 and 2002, population growth in Ireland was 8%.

Housing Minister Noel Ahern said he felt supply was catching up with demand and described the number of completions last year as a 'staggering figure'.

5,000 homes were provided by local authorities and a further 1,500 to 1,600 were provided by the voluntary sector in 2003.

Today's figures from the Department of the Environment also reveal that 14,394 houses were built in Dublin last year, a 14% increase on 2002 levels. 22,852 units were built in the Greater Dublin area in 2003, up 10.5% on the previous year.

The figures show that County Councils in South Tipperary (646), Longford (659) and Monaghan (660) had the lowest levels of house building, while Fingal (7,019), Cork (6,325) and Meath (3,687) had the highest.

The National Development Plan estimates that 500,000 homes will be required in the 10 years to 2010. 229,000 have been built in the last four years.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/2580550?view=Eircomnet

70,000 homes were built in State last year
From:ireland.com
Friday, 20th February, 2004

Almost 70,000 new homes were built in the State last year, an increase of nearly 20 per cent on the previous year.

One-off houses now account for up to 60 per cent of new homes in some rural areas, the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Noel Ahern, said yesterday.

The building of 68,819 houses or apartments last year was "an extraordinary level of output", he said.

"This is treble the figure in 1993 and double the figure in 1996." About 6,600 of these units were in the local authority, voluntary or social housing sectors.

Mr Ahern said last year was the ninth year of record housing output in the State. Dublin accounted for 14,394 house completions, while Cork accounted for 7,378.

The county with the smallest number of new houses constructed last year was Longford (659 houses), followed closely by Monaghan (660).

The National Development Plan estimated that 500,000 houses would be required between 2000 and 2010. Mr Ahern said that target was achievable, with 229,000 houses being built in the last four years.

Comparing Ireland's house-building rate with other EU states, he said: "We are so far ahead that it's incredible."

However, Ireland was playing "catch-up" because of the low levels of house-building in the past and the huge demand from the 25-34-year-old age group.

He said it was difficult to say if the growing availability of housing would bring prices down, as that trend had been predicted in recent years but had not been fulfilled.

The key issue was affordability, and it was easier to buy a house today at the current low interest rates than it was in 1992 when interest rates were as high as 17 per cent.

Mr Ahern said about 2,000 houses were becoming available every year under the affordable housing scheme, allowing people on lower incomes to become home-owners.

Meanwhile, about 12,000 people would come off the local authority's housing list this year,thanks to a mix of local authority and other schemes.

He criticised the trend of city dwellers building one-off houses in unsuitable areas but said people from rural areas were entitled to live where they worked.

"You cannot allow a situation where every Dubliner - because of more money in their pocket - has a once-off house in the scenic site of their choice." But it was "right and proper" that people who were from a rural area and had a reason to be there, should be allowed to build their homes in the area.

Mr Ahern said the perception that people were being denied the right to build single houses in the countryside was incorrect, as only one in five of these planning permission applications was refused.

There should be a little more leeway for building in certain disadvantaged areas where a larger population would be welcomed. "It's a case of balance," he said.

If councillors were unhappy with the balance being struck, then they should ensure they had an input into the development plans being framed in their areas.

Victor

Of course in 1992 a new house in Dublin probably cost €60,000

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2580760?view=Eircomnet

Hard-pressed nurses told the city housing price is right
From:The Irish Independent
Friday, 20th February, 2004
Treacy Hogan

NURSES are better able to afford a new house in Dublin today than if they were buying the same house in 1992, the Minister for Housing said yesterday.

"Price is not everything," said Noel Ahern, the Environment Minister of State with responsibility for housing.

While it might appear to be "nonsense", housing is now more affordable than in 1992, when there were massive interest rates, said Mr Ahern.

Nurses' salaries are much better than before, he said, at the launch of a new government report on the number of new homes being built.

Mr Ahern said nurses could afford houses in Dublin, and they were buying them. Back in 1992 interest rates were runing at 16-17pc and they were now at historically low levels.

He later qualified his statement, pointing out that affordability declined in subsequent years after 1992.

Mr Ahern said that, despite record house-building, he regretted that lower interest rates had not had a huge effect on prices and that the dividend had "ended up in the pockets of developers".

The minister said the effect on prices would not be huge until the supply met the demand.

"All we can do is maximise supply. When supply equals demand, then prices will level out," said Mr Ahern.

The record house-building boom revealed in yesterday's Department of the Environment house completions report for 2003 was caused by the surge in 25-34-year-olds setting up their own homes. "This is where the demand is," Mr Ahern said.

The population, he said, rose by 280,000 over a six-year period, an increase of 8pc. The average household size was now 2.4 and this reflected the increasing number of smaller households being established.

Mr Ahern said that people were still queueing up to buy houses but there was sufficient zoned land for 350,000 more units, which was sufficient to meed demand for the foreseeable future.

However, there was a need to ensure that these new houses were built in a sustainable manner, environmentally, economically and socially, the minister said.