merrion street

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has today published Commencement Notices data for March 2022. Commencement Notices for 2,809 new residential homes were received by Building Control Authorities in March 2022. Commencement Notices data indicates the number of homes on which construction commenced in any given month.

In the past twelve months (April 2021 to March 2022), Commencement Notices for 34,846 new homes were received. This is the highest rolling 12-month total since comparable data were first published.

With the exception of 2020, when significant restrictions on home-building existed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of residential homes for which Commencement Notices were received has increased every year since 2015 (the earliest year for which comparable data is available).

The total number of homes for which Commencement Notices were received in March 2022 (2,809 units) is 21% higher than February 2022 (2,327 units). The figures is 190% higher than March 2021 (although it should be noted that there were restrictions on construction activity in place in February 2021 for public health reasons)

The 12-month rolling periods relate to April to March for the years in question.

Data on construction activity can be found here.

A Commencement Notice is a notification to a Building Control Authority that a person intends to carry out either works or a Material Change of Use to which the Building Regulations apply. The notice must be given to the authority not more than 28 days and not less than 14 days before the commencement of works or the change of use. Once validated by the building control authority, works must commence on site within the 28 day period.

ENDS