Slight fall in number of house commencements in Louth in 2022

There was a slight fall in the number of house commencements in Louth in the first three months of 2022, compared to the first three months of 2021, according to data released today by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

A Commencement Notice is a notification to a Building Control Authority (BCA) that a person intends to carry out either works or a Material Change of Use to which the Building Regulations apply. According to Commencement Notices data for March 2022, Commencement Notices for 241 new homes were received by Louth BCAs in the first three months of 2022. This is down from the first three months of 2021, when 258 Commencement Notices were received. 

Of the 241 Louth Commencement Notices in 2022, 27 were received in January, 98 in February and 116 in March. This compares to 71 in March 2021, 44 in February 2021 and 143 in January 2021. Of the homes for which Commencement Notices were received in 2022, eight were one off houses in January, eight in February and 19 in March.

Looking at a 12 month rolling figure, there was a significant increase in the number of Commencement Notices in Louth between April 2021 and March 2022, compared to 12 months previously. 1,871 Commencement Notices were received between April 2021 and March 2022, compared with 1,592 between April 2020 and March 2021 - an increase of over 17.5%.

Nationally, Commencement Notices for 2,809 new residential homes were received by Building Control Authorities in March 2022. 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.