THERE WAS A surge in the number of planning permission applications approved in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the year previous.
New data from the CSO show that 2,144 applications were approved, compared to 1,409 last year.
The number of apartment units granted also rose sharply from a low base – 129.9%, or 361 units, up from 157 last year.
“The total number of planning permissions granted for all developments was 4,238,” the CSO said, up 9.4%.
This has inched up this year, from 3,833 in Q1 to 4,149 in Q2.
However, the figures for dwelling still pale in comparison to their boom levels.
In Q4 of 2006 alone, a total of 12,962 units were approved.
Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty welcomed the figures, noting a high demand for housing in her Meath-East constituency but few new builds getting off the ground.
“There is a shortage of available housing in this country and this is being felt most acutely in areas like my own constituency of County Meath,” she said in a statement.
Plans are in place to address this shortage and it is very positive to see that things are moving in the right direction.
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