Housing boom in Laois skewed upwards by Portlaoise surge
Laois town Portlaoise in top town towns in Ireland for new builds
Portlaoise had the second highest number of house completions last year for urban areas outside of the main cities according to the latest official figures.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published its New Dwelling Completions quarter four 2023 which contains figures over the 12 months.
The total number of new dwellings completed nationally last year reached 32,695. Outside of the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, Navan was the settlement with the most completions with 480, followed by Portlaoise with 455 new homes and Drogheda with 441. Both towns are regarded as being in the Greater Dublin area but the Laois County Town is not included in this unofficial region
The report's county and local electoral area figures put Laois ahead of most counties in the new homes stakes. However, they reveal that new house construction in Laois is skewed upwards by the surge in Portlaoise.
New social housing was completed in 2023 on the grounds of the former CBS school near Portlaoise Train Station. Pic: Michael Scully
Some 135 homes were completed in the Graiguecullen Portarlington Municipal District to the east of the county. The same number were built on the western side of Laois in the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District.
The figures from October to December last year also reveal the type of homes being built in Laois. Out of the 249 completions over the three months, 80 were single once-off homes. There were 33 apartments built while 180 houses were completed has part of a housing scheme.
The greatest rise in the rate of house completions was recorded in the Midlands where there was an increase of almost a third from 1,460 in 2022 to 1,932 in 2023.
The main source used for the New Dwellings Completion report is the ESB Networks new domestic connections date.