Zero new builds since September

November 2008

A shocking zero number of house builds have started in County Wicklow since September.

As the Irish economy has entered its darkest hole with 40,000 construction jobs hanging in the balance and housing starts slumping to pre-1993 levels, Wicklow finds itself at the end of the barrel. Throughout the country 12 counties started less then 10 houses while Wicklow, Longford, Roscommon and Cavan started building no houses whatsoever.

The number of house starts for the first nine months of this year are down 56.2 per cent compared to the same time last year.

In the 12 months from the end of September 2006 to the end of September 2007, 968 house starts began in Wicklow. From the end of September 2007 to the end of the same month 2008 there was a dramatic decrease with just 424 house starts.

This was a huge deficit of 544 which will have a knock on effect not only on employment but also on the housing list situation.

At last week’s County Council meeting, all councillors raised concern over the building sector and the lack of houses been built in the county and the knock on effect this will have for the people.

‘We are going back to the bad old days of huge housing lists with no houses for the people of Wicklow.

‘If there are no houses coming on stream in the coming years the county will be in a real crisis,’ said Cllr James O’Shaughnessy.