CSO figures show big challenges in housing provision in Cork
LESS ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE IN CORK MEANS HIGHER PRICES AND RENTS
THE CSO has painted a very challenging picture of the housing situation in Cork, based on newly released stats from the 2016 census.
Less house building, fewer vacant dwellings available, more people renting and higher rents - in Cork it’s now even harder to find a home, especially if you’re young.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published the first thematic report from Census 2016, entitled ‘Profile 1 Housing in Ireland’. The results show that a total of 2,003,645 houses and apartments in the State were enumerated in the 2016 Census. Of these, 1,697,665 were occupied by persons usually resident in the State.
There were 183,312 vacant houses and apartments, while the census also counted 62,148 vacant holiday homes.
Cork’s housing stock grew to 229,495 from 227,675 in April 2011, an increase of 0.8%.
Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, explained: “In recognition of the demand from users, and society in general, for a better understanding of housing in Ireland, the Central Statistics Office has prioritised the housing release as its first thematic report from Census 2016. We believe this report provides a clear picture of some of the main developments in the Irish housing landscape over the past five years, including new analysis of vacant properties, such as type of dwelling and distance to the nearest town”.
Cork had 195,422 permanent occupied dwellings in April 2016, compared with 187,555 in April 2011. The rate of increase was 4.2%, which was considerably slower than the 2006-2011 rate of 12.6%.
At a State level, there were 1,697,665 permanent housing units occupied at the time of the census, an increase of 2.9% (48,257) since April 2011.
The number of vacant dwellings in Cork has fallen to 27,209 - down from 33,329 in 2011. Of this, the number of holiday homes counted was 7,272.
The vacancy rate has dropped from 14.6% to 11.9%.
Nationally, there was a 15% drop in the number of all vacant dwellings (including holiday homes) from 289,451 in 2011 to 245,460 in April 2016.
In Cork, 58,311 households were in rental accommodation in 2016, compared with 54,540 in 2011. The average rent paid to private landlords was €186.49, an increase on the 2011 figure which was €161.55.
For the country overall, 22,323 more households were renting their accommodation compared to 2011, bringing the total renting to 497,111. Since 2011 the national average weekly rent paid to private landlords grew to €199.92.
Home ownership overtakes renting in Cork at the age 35, which is the same as the state figure. Nationally by age of 35, more people own their own home than rent, compared with age 32 in 2011.
Given that this age was 26 in 1991, this shows a clear long term trend. The home ownership rate for Cork was 67.2%, compared with 69.5% in 2011.