New Galway house builds continue to fall sharply

The continuing downturn in the construction sector in Galway is borne out in a new report which shows the number of new housing builds which got underway in the first half of this year is down by more than one quarter.

And the prediction is that the number of new building projects starting in the city and county will continue on the downward trend.

Meanwhile, the number of planning applications lodged in the city and county is down by one-fifth in the same period.

The new ‘National Housing Construction Index’ compiled by researchers at Link2Plans.com measures the extent of the drop in construction activity here through planning applications and commencement notices to Galway City and County Councils. These are submitted when construction work is about to begin.

It shows that in the first six months of this year, commencements were down 27% on the same period last year – the national average was 14% – from 202 to 147.

The drop in commencements was the eighth-highest in the country – Westmeath recorded a 61% drop, followed by Limerick at 49%, Waterford at 45% and Cavan at 36%.

For more on this story, see this week’s Connacht Sentinel