Poor record of home delivery in Tipp
Mid-West’s leading business body finds Greater Dublin Area is better catering for its population with the delivery of new homes
Limerick Chamber has released its highly anticipated Rental Barometer, offering a comprehensive analysis of the rental and new home market over the past year and beyond. The findings paint a stark picture of soaring rental prices, limited supply, and the urgent need for intervention to address the affordability crisis. The Limerick Chamber Rental Barometer provides a national overview of delivery of new and affordable homes and ranks the best and worst performers at the county level.
The Chamber’s analysis compared the number of people in each county to the new homes delivered in that county and confirms industry experts’ sense that the Greater Dublin Area (Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Dublin) is outperforming the rest of the country.
Furthermore, the research lays bare the low share of affordable worker housing delivered by the state since the beginning of 2022, with just 7.4% of housing at the national level being delivered as affordable housing for workers. However, the analysis found a better geographical spread among top performers when examining the share of affordable homes on a county basis with the likes of Waterford and Cork entering the top four.
The Chamber analysis also found that the provision of cost rental is far higher in counties on the east of the country, as well as cork, when compared to other parts of the country, with most counties having less than 4 cost rental homes delivered per county. In many instances the affordable housing provision in regional areas is bolstered by the First Home Scheme rather than the provision of affordable rental options such as cost rental.
Key highlights from the report include:
National Ranking: The National figure for number of persons per new home was 173, just five counties performed at this level or better; Wexford (173 people for every one new home), Dublin (141), Meath (119), Wicklow (100) and Kildare (94). The analysis finds that the East of the country is performing better for delivering homes at a level befitting their population than regional areas. In comparison terms, the bottom four performers are Leitrim (503 people for every new home), Tipperary (401), Roscommon (397) and Longford (380).
Affordable Housing Shortage: The National figure for the number of affordable homes delivered for the working population as a percentage of all new homes was 7.4%. Six counties performed better than this, with a greater geographical spread than the number of people per new home. The top four performers were Wicklow, where 16.2% of all new homes delivered since the beginning of 2022 were affordable home schemes. Waterford was also at 16.2%, Kildare was at 15.8% and Cork at 13.4%. Unfortunately, 20 counties performed poorer than the state figure with the bottom four performers consisting of Kerry, where 0.5% of new homes were under affordable schemes, Tipperary was also at 0.5%, while Leitrim and Mayo were at 0.7% each.
Commenting on the release, Seán Golden, Chief Economist and Director of Policy at Limerick Chamber said
“We cannot ignore the stark realities unveiled by our Rental Barometer report. The east of the country is performing better when catering for their population than the rest of the country. The question now should be how the rest of the country emulates the east and get building more homes to match their population. We also need to understand what barriers are in place in the regions, that might not be there in the East, or certainly less prevalent in the east. Another very worrying aspect of our analysis, is the poor performance of affordable delivery at a national level, but in particular when you drill down into certain counties. 19 counties have delivered less than four affordable homes each since the beginning of 2022. Ireland, and certainly the regions, being highly connected, means we have to perform much better at the delivery of affordable homes at a regional level or else risk the hard-won economic gains of the past. Limerick Chamber sees the implementation of affordable housing targets for all counties as critical to this. Not all counties have targets set by Government; here in the Mid-West, Tipperary and Clare have no targets but to thrive as a region; we all need to strive to deliver affordable housing together ."
Commenting on the release, Noel Gavin, President of Limerick Chamber said
“Ireland's economic resurgence has been remarkable, particularly when underscored by various global crises in recent years. We have made significant strides in job creation and population growth. However, to sustain our competitiveness, we must prioritise increasing housing output for workers, with a particular emphasis on affordable purchase and rental. Adequate housing is crucial to attract and retain graduates from Irish education institutions and skilled workers globally. It's imperative that we address this challenge to ensure Ireland remains an attractive and dynamic destination for talent and investment. However, our release today, highlights the urgent need for action and quick delivery on state lands, particularly in regional areas."