Ireland’s rural housing shortage is ‘only becoming more entrenched’ due to a construction ‘stalemate’ in many counties.
That’s according to the CEO of Property District, who said the country is not building nearly enough in many rural counties.
New figures from property portal MyHome.ie reveal there were just 12,477 second-hand properties listed for sale on the site in July 2024 – some 50% less than a decade ago.
The decline was steepest in Munster, which had 61% fewer properties, while in Connacht-Ulster the figure dropped by 59%.
In Dublin, the number was 19% lower, while in the rest of Leinster it was 36%.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Carol Tallan said property portals are no longer “at the height of their power”, claiming that property owners are increasingly advertising on TikTok and another social media app instead.
She warned, however, that the figures underline a trend in rural Ireland where the housing shortage is “only becoming more entrenched”.
“If you look at Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, all of those counties combined have fewer than 200 homes under construction,” she said.
“So actually, they're the real problem areas that we're looking at in the pipeline - so part of this comes down to our stalemate in [building] one-off rural homes.
“Ireland is a rural country and we need new supply of all types, all tenures of housing - but one-off rural housing is part of that.
“We do need to agree on an approach that allows people to build sustainably in rural areas.”
Semi detached properties. Picture by: Alamy.comMs Tallan said Ireland continues to have a “real supply issue” and the only solution is to build more homes to drive down prices and rents.
“Just yesterday, the Guardian had a piece and it quoted research from the British Government and it found that a… 1% increase in housing stock drives a 2% fall in prices and rents,” she said.
“Affordability is Ireland’s biggest crisis… and supply is the single biggest lever the Government could pull to start addressing [the crisis].
“Supply is not an unsolvable problem.”
The Government is considering reforming the tax system in a bid to to reduce the number of one-off homes being built - preferring denser developments on environmental grounds.
In 2023, there were 32,695 new homes built in Ireland and the Government hopes this year the total will be close to 40,000.
Finance Minister Jack Chambers has promised housing will remain a "core priority" in Budget 2025 and housing targets will be revised in the autumn.
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Main image: A housing estate in Donegal. Picture by: Richard Wayman / Alamy
