HOUSE BUILDS IN LOUTH NOT MEETING NEED

With just over 400 new dwellings in Louth so far this year the pace of building is not meeting demand, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office CSO

The listings for the third quarter of 2018 showed there were 137 completions, making the total number built in Louth this year 402

A breakdown of the type of housing indicated that there were 37 detached properties, a further 96 as part of a housing development and four apartments which reached completion.

The pace of housing building across the country has been highlighted as not meeting the huge demand, and Louth is no different.

Now, the construction sector has revealed a struggle to secure the workforce needed to increase the pace of development.

Aaron Willis, General Manager of GPD.ie (Glounthaune Property Developers) highlighted a ‘depleted construction workforce’ post recession.

‘While the volume of construction output has been rising steadily, the pace of building remains far too slow. This increase is welcomed, but it does not make up for the fact that construction has decreased by over 50% overall in the last decade.’

He added: ‘Recent years saw a huge number of professional and tradespeople either leave the construction industry and re-train in another sector or leave to work abroad. The property experts say that this shortage of skilled labour has been further compounded by the limited apprentice programmes in the industry.’

‘Clearly, something must be done about the fact that our building and construction workforce has depleted by so much. The Recession hit, and people left the country – we must now entice to them to come home.’