Wednesday 29th July 2015. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, has described the publication of the National Housing Statement by the Housing Agency as an important indicator of housing supply and demand.
The SCSI, which is the professional representative body for the property and construction sector said the Statement underlined the need for accurate market data and analysis on housing needs to inform policy.
The Key Findings of the Housing Agency report included:
- Demand for housing will continue to increase in accordance with population trends and a reduction in household sizes
- Supply of new housing needs to increase to meet demand
- 21,000 new units pa for next 3 years
- Affordability is an issue for households in greater Dublin area
Conor O’Donovan Policy Director with the SCSI said “the national statement published by the Housing Agency is a very welcome publication and provides important analysis on the needs of the housing sector. Historically the data has not been available and an evidence based approach to publishing key data on the sector to inform policy making is essential.
“The housing market is a complex one and positive progress has been made to improve the availability of finance, to speed up planning and the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill, which is due to be commenced soon, will reduce construction costs such as development levies and part V obligations and improve overall viability. We now need to ensure that these initiatives are quickly implemented to ensure that developments can move ahead and that the right type of housing is built in the right location based on accurate data” O’Donovan concluded.