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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

29 July 2021

Press Statement New Dwelling Completions Q2 2021

Rebound in new dwelling completions to pre-COVID-19 levels with apartments accounting for over a quarter of completions in Q2 2021
  • There were 5,021 new dwelling completions in Q2 2021, up 55.5% from Q2 2020 when initial COVID-19 restrictions were in place, and up 4.6% from Q2 2019
  • There were 1,333 apartment completions in Q2 2021, which is more than double the number of apartments completed in both Q2 2020 and Q2 2019
  • For the first time since the series began in 2011, apartment completions represent more than a quarter (26.5%) of all completions
  • There were increases in both scheme (38.2%) and single dwellings (32.4%) from Q2 2020 but a drop from Q2 2019 figures of 10.1% and 12.6% respectively
  • For the first time the new dwelling completions have now been broken down by Local Electoral Area (LEA), with the LEA of Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart having the most completions (185) in Q2 2021 and all 166 LEAs having at least one completion

Go to release: New Dwelling Completions Q2 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (29 July 2021) released figures for New Dwelling Completions in the second quarter of 2021.

Commenting on the release, Justin Anderson, Statistician, said: “The recovery of the construction sector following the relaxation of restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen in the New Dwelling Completions this quarter. There were 5,021 completions which is 55.5% higher than the amount seen in Q2 2020 when the first wave of restrictions was in place. The figure for this quarter is also up 4.6% from Q2 2019.

The rise in completions is being fuelled by apartments. There were 1,333 apartment completions this quarter, up 154.4% from Q2 2020 and also up 101.4% from Q2 2019. Scheme dwellings were up 38.2% from Q2 2020 but down 10.1% from Q2 2019, while completions of single dwellings have risen 32.4% in the last year, but are down 12.6% from Q2 2019.

Of all completions in Q2 2021, 50.6% are scheme, 26.5% are apartments and 22.9% are single dwellings. This is the first quarter since the series began in 2011 where more than a quarter of completions have been apartments. This compares with 16.2% in Q2 2020 and 13.8% in Q2 2019.

For the first time, the new dwelling completions have been broken down by Local Electoral Area. It was felt that this geographical breakdown shows greater detail for some areas – particularly in the cities outside of Dublin – than just using the Eircode area. Data by Eircode area is still available in our interactive tables. The LEA of Blanchardstown-Mullhardart had the most completions in Q2 2021 with 185. The only LEA outside of Dublin with more than 100 completions was Skibbereen-West Cork with 101. All 166 LEAs had at least one completion this quarter.

More than two-thirds of all apartments completed this quarter were in Dublin (68.3%). The Mid-East region accounted for 27.1% of the total scheme dwellings this quarter while the South-West region had the highest number of single dwelling completions, with 17.2% of all nationally.”

Editor's Note:

'Single' dwellings are one-off dwellings connected to the ESB network. 'Scheme' dwellings are houses which form part of a multi-unit development of two or more houses connected to the ESB network. 'Apartment' dwellings are within a multi-unit development and are specifically identified by the ESB as apartments.   

For further information contact:

Justin Anderson (+353) 1 498 4316

or email sscu@cso.ie

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