New developments point to better things to come for the Irish housing market
35% of all Irish new builds now are timber frame as factory-based construction gets more common.
Further changes are coming down the line for a product-starved Irish housing market, including – from the very top, ongoing debate at Housing Commission level about inserting a right to housing into the Constitution – as well as delivering at greater scale a more diverse range of tenure types, from rentals and cost rental to social and affordable homes, as well as private homes to purchase.
Apartment offers for many types of buyers should ramp up once the Croí Cónaithe programme gets government supported units out of the ground, with numerous sites around the country now made viable thanks to a €144,000 ‘bung’ per unit, and with full planning in place for thousands for higher density units, many in tall buildings.
Meanwhile, back on the ground, more steady supply can also be expected as the country slowly turns to off-site construction, or so-called modern methods of construction (MMC) with a new representative body set up last year to promote the transition to more effective methods of rapid, assured and quality-controlled home delivery.
Examples are coming to the fore, such as the June 2023-established manufacturing and technology wing of Glenveagh Properties called NUA, to deliver modern methods of construction in the Irish market: the company recently said it is on track to deliver over 2,000 of these off-site constructed units in 2024, from three off-site manufacturing facilities in Carlow, Arklow, and Dundalk.
Other large-scale developers are following similar paths, but it’s hardly ‘new’ technology? Older industry heads will recall the setting up nearly 20 years ago of just such a plant in Cork harbour’s Ringaskiddy and which exported widely, set up by West Cork’s John Fleming, who since ‘the crash’ has concentrated his efforts instead now in the UK, building at a significant scale.
A gathering of builders at Cork CIF summit earlier this month heard Director of Housing/IHBA head Conor O’Connell note that his sector will provide homes at the right price point and if profitable, said the market continued to be very price sensitive. He described demand as “phenomenal,” and revealed that 35% of all Irish new builds now are timber frame as factory-based construction gets more common.
At the same discussion, Cork CIF branch chair Kieran O’Donovan said progress was being made by government and housing agencies in unlocking sites: “we’re moving in the right direction,” he stated.
After a raft of key enabling measures and supports, as well as improvements in Bord Pleanala and the LRD process, delivery had stepped up but Mr O’Donovan noted “we need more of all unit types, everywhere, because the housing market is a complete ecosystem, for example where a new four-bed releases a three-bed and three-bed releases a two-bed.”
Mr O’Connor observed that last year 50% of housing built in Cork city had been acquired by the local authority, or by approved housing bodies (AHBs), rising to 57% of stock in Cork county, excluding one-off homes. Noting progress to date, he called for the various agencies involved in housing remove impediments and “to accelerate of the provision of private housing if we are to genuinely solve the current difficulties.”
Meanwhile, long experienced home builder Stephen McCarthy of Astra Construction which is building at scale in Carrigaline’s Janeville and who has adopted timber frame quipped “building is the easy part,” noting paperwork was snarling up and delaying delivery, saying “it took me 14 years to get my site to market.”
He said a notable trend at present is the strength of non-native Irish buying homes for their families: “it’s a completely new dynamic.”
And, characterising his business as high-risk, Mr McCarthy posed the question “if it was so profitable, why aren’t more people doing it?” With the current cost of funding at 8%, and VAT at 13% “one fifth of the money is gone before you start,” he declared.
