THE NUMBER of new housing units for which planning permission is being granted fell significantly in the first quarter of this year, new figures have shown.
CSO figures show that planning permission was granted for a total of 1,355 housing units in the first three months of the year – a figure down by 63 per cent on the same period last year.
Permission was granted for 1,263 houses and a total of 92 apartments – with the latter figure down by 84.5 per cent compared to the first three months of 2011.
The number of houses approved was down from 3,075 in the corresponding period last year – a drop of almost 59 per cent.
The majority of the housing developments approved are ‘once-off’, with approval for 868 isolated houses. The other 395 units were granted in 34 planning permissions.
By comparison, during the peak of the building boom in the second quarter of 2007, approval was granted for 18,201 houses and 5,787 units – a total of 23,988 units.
That corresponds to a drop of just under 95 per cent in the 57 months between that quarter and the one just finished.
The CSO figures reflect only permissions granted, and not the number of construction projects undertaken.
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