2005 was another record year for house and apartment completions with a total of 80,957 built around the country, according to new figures from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. This represents an increase of 5.2% on 2004 and the eleventh consecutive year of record growth.
The Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Noel Ahern, says that the country is now producing houses at a rate of 20 per 1,000 residents.
Today's figures show that Dublin house completions - at 18,019 - are twice the level seen in 1995. These were up 125% in the Greater Dublin area - which comprises Dublin City and Country, Co Kildare, Meath and Wicklow - at 27,830 units.
'The leading indicators of housing construction, namely new house registrations for the year 2005 (62,284) and residential starts (67,156 in the first ten months of 2005), and the availability of significant tracts of serviced zoned lands, augers well for the continuation of a strong level of house building in the short to medium term,' commented Mr Ahern.
There were no official figures released today on the number of social and affordable houses completed last year, but the Minister estimated that around 7,000 were built.
