Planning application approval rises by almost 40% in first quarter of 2023

Planning permission approval for houses rose by nearly 40 per cent in the first quarter of this year, when compared to 2022 according to latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

There was an annual increase of 37.8% in the total number of dwelling units approved at 11,659 units in Q1 2023 compared with 8,463 units in Q1 2022.

Housing units accounted for 53% of all dwelling units approved, while apartments accounted for the remaining 47%.

The number of houses granted planning permission rose by 31% on an annual basis to 6,146 housing units, while apartment approvals rose by 46% to 5,513 units.

There was an annual rise of more than 81% in the number of multi-development houses receiving planning permission, compared with a decrease of almost 32% in one-off houses.

Across the four local authorities of Dublin, planning permission was granted for 4,637 apartments in Q1 2023, accounting for more than 84% of all apartments granted planning permission in the state between January and March of this year.

More than half (53.4%) of all dwelling units granted planning permission in the state in Q1 2023 were in the Fingal County Council local authority area, with 4,031 apartment units and 2,193 houses.

Planning permission was granted for 4,637 apartments in Dublin in Q1 2023, accounting for 84.1% of all apartments granted planning approval in the state. 

There were 6,224 dwelling units approved in the Fingal County Council area (4,031 apartments and 2,193 houses), accounting for 53.4% of all dwelling units granted planning permission in Q1 2023. 

During the same period, the West Region (Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon) recorded the lowest number of apartment units (17) granted planning permission.

Of the 6,042 planning permissions granted for all developments in Q1 2023, 1,734 were for new construction dwellings, 1,782 for other new constructions, 1,616 for extensions, and 910 permissions were for alterations and conversions.