Lowest number of home commencements in Louth in almost 10 years

There has been an alarming fall in the number of home commencements that have taken place in the first eight months of this year in Louth, with the number of homes commenced in the first eight months of this year at its lowest since 2016.

Latest figures released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage show that 276 new homes were commenced in the first eight months of this year. It is the lowest number of homes commenced in the first eight months of any year since 2016, when work began on 186 new homes in Louth.

In August, work began on 18 new homes, down from 89 in July. 14 of these homes were one off units, the remaining four were scheme units. No apartments were commenced in Louth in August, with June being the only month this year when work began on new apartments in Louth, with eight commenced.

Nationally, the number of new homes commenced in the first eight months of this year is also the lowest number of homes commenced since 2016. Work began on 8,540 new homes across the country in the first eight months of 2025, the lowest number of homes commenced since 2016, when work began on 8,160 new homes.

This compares to 38,705 new homes during the first eight months of last year, and 21,316 in 2023. It is even lower than 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when 13,144 new homes were commenced across the country.

Work commenced on 1,156 new homes across the State in August. Of this 327 were one off units; 490 were scheme units; and 339 were apartments.