Latest volume of Construction Index show Offaly in line with national decreasing trend in construction

The latest National Housing Construction Index complied and issued by Link2Plans (www.link2plans.com) has shown a decrease in Construction Commencement activity and Planning Applications in Offaly. These figures mirror the national decreasing trend.

Researchers at www.link2plans.com have produced the National Housing Construction Index which examines every housing construction Planning Applications and Planning Commencements throughout the months of January through to June 2012. The Index gives a direct comparison with the exact same period in 2011. For the first time in this series, the Index also includes an all island analysis of planning applications.

The research shows that from January to June 2012, 87 planning applications were submitted in Offaly. This compared to 117 in 2011 resulting in a drop of 26%. The same period saw a decrease in the number of Commencement Notices issued in Offaly drop from 51 to 48, a percentage decrease of 6%.

This Volume examines the number of planning permission applications for residential projects from January to June, showing a significant variation regionally when looking at planning applications activity per head of population.

According to Managing Director of Link2Plans, Danny O’Shea “the index is very interesting when we look at it on an all Island basis, as we see the real regional variations. There is a still a huge number of housing construction projects taking place, albeit those projects are on average smaller than in previous years. Across the island of Ireland, for the first 6 months of 2012, we have seen 10,287 individual residential projects apply for planning permission.”

“Our team of researchers at Link2Plans has examined the volume of construction projects in relation to the population of each area. The results are dramatic. For example, the three Ulster counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan combined, have three times more construction activity, per head of population, than Dublin. Munster, Connaught and Northern Ireland have in the region twice the activity per head of population than Dublin. The message coming loud and clear from this analysis, is that there are thousands of live housing construction projects, however they are more regionally spread out, rather than the large concentration in Dublin and the Greater Dublin area.”