Number of planning permissions granted continued to rise in 2017

THE latest set of planning figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have shown the growing sense of confidence within the residential construction sector witnessed during 2016 continued into last year.

The final figures for 2017 have again shown a marked increase in the number of planning permissions granted for homes – with the annual total standing at its highest level for almost a decade.

The CSO figures showed that permissions were granted for 20,776 dwelling units across the state last year – up almost 27% on the figure for 2016 of 16,375.

The total figures for 2017 was divided up between 15,440 houses and 5,336 apartments.

Despite the gradual increase in recent years, the figure is considerably lower than that recorded in 2009, when 26,814 units were given planning permission across the country.

The number was at its lowest in 2012, when just 5,389 permissions were granted.

That trend was mirrored across Cork County, with 2,879 permissions granted in 2009 – a figure that plummeted to just 973 in 2010.

While the figure for Cork jumped slightly to 1,076 in 2011 it fell again the following year, reaching its lowest point in 2013 when just 561 houses were given planning permission. By 2015 that figure had increased to 1,053 with the final total for 2016 standing at 1,538.

The final Cork figure of 1,714 for 2017 was comprised of 1,061 multi development houses (estates) and 653 ‘one off ’ homes.

While the signs are encouraging for Cork, the figure for 2017 is still well behind that experienced before the financial crash, with the total figure for dwelling units across the county during 2008 standing at 4,622.

The number of planning permissions for private flats/apartments in Cork during 2017 also increased during the year from 93 to 117.

Nationally, planning permissions were granted for 5,336 apartment units, compared to 3,894 in 2016 an increase of 37%.

The number of multi-development houses granted permission was 10,215, up by 24% on the figure for 2016 of 8,291.

One-off houses accounted for a quarter of all dwelling units given the green light by planners during 2017.

The CSO figures showed the total number of planning permissions for all developments during 2017 was 25,083 compared to 21,099 in 2016 – an increase of 19%

Interestingly, the planning permissions for new agricultural buildings decreased from 1,741 in 2016 to 1,297 last year – a fall of 26%.