29% drop in houses built here last year
Just 83 new houses were completed in Co Leitrim during the January to November period last year, according to the latest figures produced by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).
According to the latest National Housing Statistics Bulletin this represents a drop of 29% compared to the same period in 2011 when a total of 117 houses were completed.
The drop in the rate of house building in Co Leitrim was nearly 10% higher than the national average which saw a 20.4% drop in house building for the January to November period.
Speaking about the housing figures, CIF Director General Tom Parlon said, “These figures underline the difficulties that faced the construction sector in 2012. It was another difficult year for builders in Co Leitrim and throughout the country. Nationally 2012 was the worst year on record for the level of new housing units built.
“2011 had held the record for the lowest level of house completions when 10,480 units were built. That had been the lowest since records began in 1970. However we expect the final figure for 2012 to be considerably below that – somewhere in the region of 8,000 units in total,” he said.
“The residential property market is still recovering from the problems generated during the Celtic Tiger days.
“We still have an oversupply of housing in certain parts of the country. As long as that oversupply exists it will be difficult for new house building activity to be completed in these areas.”
Despite the gloomy figures, Mr Parlon said there were signs that the year ahead will be more positive for the sector.
“We saw an increase in demand for housing in some parts of the country towards the end of 2012 and the expectation is that this will continue in 2013. If that demand continues the vacant stock will decrease and that will lead to more house building activity,” he said.
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Thursday 23 May 2013
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