ASK THE EXPERTS

How many new homes do we need each year to deal with the housing crisis?

PAT DAVITT

Market gurus say 35,000. It’s difficult to see where these are to be built and how this extra stock will affect the market. Most estimates suggest there were 18/19,000 built in 2018. Outside of the commuter areas, builders still say construction is not viable.

KEITH LOWE

It is my opinion that 30,000 houses per annum is required, which would include

5,000 to 10,000 being allocated to social housing. This figure may need to rise in time should there be a spike in population in some areas. The key factors underpinning this estimate are the increasing rate of new household formation (driven by indigenous population growth, rising rates of separation, positive net migration flows and the replacement of obsolete housing stock).

MICHAEL GREHAN

Our in-house forecasts suggested that we needed to supply 40,000 units per annum in the fiveyear period to 2021. Each year that we fail to meet this forecast, the latent demand is pushing up the forecast figure. Current indications are that we completed 18,000 units in 2018 rising to 21,000 this year. We need to more than double this output if we are to meet current demand.

DARINA COLLINS

We need 35,000 new homes a year to cover population growth and existing demand. At the moment, we are producing 14,000.

AINE MYLER

The ESRI states Ireland needs 25,000 to 35,000. The housing crisis is a significant and ongoing risk to our economy. We often equate house completion figures as just that; houses. We need apartments in our cities and large towns. We’re in economic competition with other countries and we need the right housing stock to provide for population growth.