Laois building boom at Celtic Tiger levels?
Record declared by the Department of Housing but figures don't include property boom stats
Work began building a record number of houses in Laois so far this year according to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The claim was made after the Department published monthly data on the number of Commencement Notices (residential construction starts) notified to Laois County Council for November 2023.
"The data show in the first eleven months of 2023 there have been commencement notices for 720 homes in Laois, an almost 37% increase on the same period in 2022 (526 units) and a record when compared to similar periods since the data series began in 2015," said the statement issued on December 15.
The figures do not include Celtic Tiger housing construction which boomed right around the county before collapsing to a standstill for several years as the property market evaporated.
The Department added that nationally, the "strong uptick" in commencements this year has continued and 29,634 homes have been commenced nationally in the first eleven months of 2023. This is a 17.7% increase on the same period last year.
Overall, the data show that the number of commencements in the first 11 months of this year has reached 29,634 which already exceeds the total number for the whole of 2022 at 26,957.
The full commencement data set can be accessed at: Construction Activity Statistics.