Tipp housing starts up 60%

Cost of delivering a three-bed semi now at €371,000

New housing commencements are up by more than 60% in Tipperary this year, despite a significant increase in the cost of building a house.

Figures compiled by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) show 780 private residential commencements in Tipperary in the 12 months to the end of September 2024. This compares to just 485 commencements in the 12 months to September 2023, and represents the highest level of housing activity seen in 20 years.

The average cost of delivering a three-bed semi-detached house in Tipperary now stands at €371,000. This represents an increase of around 30% of the average cost in 2022.

The figures were provided at a special meeting of Tipperary Co Council last week to discuss the local housing situation. The meeting was attended by CIF representatives including Tom Gallahue of Portroe-based Teamar Property Developments.

The meeting heard of barriers facing the construction sector, including viability, availability of serviced and serviceable zoned land, access to finance, return on value, restrictive planning policies and capacity issues involving Uisce Éireann and the ESB. With Tipperary's population forecast to grow beyond 190,000 by 2040, the meeting heard that demand for housing would further increase in the coming years. A projected 1,187 houses would have to be built in the county between now and 2030, while a further 1,048 would be required between then and 2040.

The council was asked to help by reducing charges and levies, streamlining the planning and taking-in-charge process, ensuring availability of serviced and zoned land, and collaborate with local builders and approved housing bodies to facilitate development on lands that have planning.

‘ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM’

Cllr Séamie Morris said development progress in the Nenagh area is being held up over wastewater treatment plant capacity issues. Treatment plants in Portroe, Cloughjordan, Silvermines and even the town itself are at capacity because Uisce Éireann has yet to upgrade them. There are 750 live planning applications in Nenagh and it is intended to provide housing on the Stereame site, but neither private nor social housing ambitions can be realised without the treatment plant issue being resolved.

“We can talk all we want about it but the biggest elephant in the room is Irish Water and capacity,” Cllr Morris told the meeting.

Cllr Joe Hannigan agreed, saying there are 35 houses planned for Ballycommon that cannot be commenced due to the treatment plant setback. Public representatives need to identify Uisce Éireann as “the problem”; the solution, Cllr Hannigan said, is for all water services to be handed back to the local authority.

Several councillors were of a similar opinion, but added that the property price cap in Tipperary under the Government's First Home Scheme has discouraged developers from building in the county. Tipperary is one of 13 local authorities where the cap is set at just €350,000; by comparison, Limerick has a ceiling of €425,000.

There were also calls to attract more people into the building profession and a number of speakers agreed with Cllr Seán Ryan's call for a greater emphasis on construction and engineering in schools.

MEETING FOR BUILDERS

CIF Director of Housing Conor O'Connell described the wastewater infrastructure issue as a “big impediment” for developers but hoped the €1 billion allocated to Uisce Éireann for capital projects in next year's budget would go some way towards alleviating the problem. He pointed out that there has been a lack of investment in water infrastructure for many years and Uisce Éireann is having to make up the shortfall.

Mr O'Connell said most of the challenges facing the construction sector are beyond the remit of Tipperary Co Council. But he suggested that the council could call a meeting for builders to discuss problems that are holding up development in particular areas. The local authority could also help by looking at lands where housing could be developed most efficiently in the context of the County Development Plan.

Clancy Construction MD John O'Shaughnessy said his firm builds houses all over the country but not in Tipperary because it is not viable to do so. This is largely due to the €350,000 property price cap, while the requirement to provide two-bed houses in 40% of new developments is another stumbling block; reducing this requirement to 20% would help, Mr Shaughnessy said.

“I was born and raised in Tipp and I'd love to build here but can't,” he told the meeting.

STRUGGLE TO GET STAFF

Mr O'Shaughnessy informed those present that he also struggles to get staff. He agreed that the building profession needs to be better promoted as a career choice. Mr Gallahue also spoke of access to labour as being a big issue. He regretted that “wet trades” like blocklaying have come to be seen as the “lowest of the low” and said this view needs to change so that more young people are incentivesed to become builder's apprentices.

But the biggest issue for developers in Tipperary is the financial burden associated with seeing projects through to their conclusion, Mr Gallahue said. He believed the council could help by providing serviced sites for people to build on in villages, a move that would encourage development in rural areas.

Cllr Hannigan said the council could also look at the 40% two-bed housing requirement in the context of its County Development Plan. Cllr Kieran Bourke suggested that water charges should be revisited in order to provide the funding Uisce Éireann needs to deliver the required infrastructure.

“We should be paying for water,” he said. “We can't criticise Irish Water; we need to look at ourselves as well.”

Cllr John Crosse called for representatives of Uisce Éireann to regularly attend the council's district meetings so that issues of concern could be discussed with them.

Thanking the CIF representatives for their attendance, council CEO Sinéad Carr said a number of issues had arisen that the council could deal with internally. Other issues would, however, be a case of lobbying at national level, Ms Carr said.