There were 7,654 new dwelling completions in Q2 2022, up 53.4% from Q2 2021, and up 58.8% from Q2 2019 (pre-pandemic).
Apartment completions rose 88.1% in the last year to 2,415 with scheme dwellings up 53.3% to 3,905 and single dwellings rising 15.1% to 1,334.
Just over half (51.0%) of all completions in Q2 2022 were scheme dwellings, 31.6% were apartments. while 17.4% were single dwellings.
Completions increased by more than 50% in Dublin, South-West, Mid-East, Mid-West, and the Midlands.
More than a third (34.3%) of scheme completions were in the Mid-East (Louth, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow).
Nine of the ten Local Electoral Areas with the most completions in the quarter were in Dublin, with the most completions in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh.
| New Dwelling Completions | ||||
| Single | Scheme | Apartment | Totals | |
| Quarter 2 2021 | 1,159 | 2,547 | 1,284 | 4,990 |
| Quarter 2 2022 | 1,334 | 3,905 | 2,415 | 7,654 |
| % change | 15.1% | 53.3% | 88.1% | 53.4% |
There were 7,654 new dwelling completions in Q2 2022 up 53.4% from 4,990 completions in Q2 2021. This is the most completions seen in any quarter since the series began in 2011.
The Q2 data for 2022 also shows that:
The primary data source used for the New Dwellings Completions series is the ESB Networks new domestic connections dataset, where the date that the connection is energized determines the date of completion. It is accepted that the ESB domestic connections dataset is overestimating new dwellings and the CSO has adjusted for this overcount by using additional information from the ESB and other data sources.
ESB connections are classified into four categories: new dwelling completions, UFHDs (previously finished houses in Unfinished Housing Developments), reconnections and non-dwellings. The dwelling type (single, scheme, apartment) and urban-rural divide are defined by the ESB Network. See Background Notes for a more detailed discussion of the classification.
The New Dwelling Completions series is based on the number of domestic dwellings connected by the ESB Network to the electricity supply and may not accord precisely with geographical boundaries.
The CSO has utilised other available data sources to validate and enhance the ESB connections dataset. However, this was only possible where the connections dataset could be confidently linked to another dataset using unique identifiers or by address matching. As the level of Eircode collection, coverage and storage increases across data sources in the housing sector, it is expected that the precision of estimates on new dwelling completions can be further enhanced.
There has been a significant level of construction output in the student accommodation sector. These are generally connected to the ESB Network as commercial connections and are therefore not included in the ESB domestic connections dataset used for the new dwelling completions. The data available on this sector is on a “bed space” basis and it is not currently possible to report on it as dwellings, which are self-contained units of living accommodation. Based on consultation with stakeholders in this sector, student accommodation may be included in future New Dwelling Completions reports as a separate category. We have no details yet on bed spaces completed in the student accommodation sector in 2022. This will be added when we have them. Total completed bed spaces since Q2 2016 up to Q4 2021 stand at 12,149.
The ESB domestic connections dataset provides information on the type of connection and whether it is in an urban or rural area. In Q2 2022 the number of completions in urban areas was 6,548, a rise of 64.0% from 3,992 in Q2 2021. In rural areas, there was an increase of 10.8% from 998 in Q2 2021 to 1,106 this quarter. There were 85.6% of all completions in urban areas which is the highest percentage of completions in urban areas since the series began in 2011. See Table 2.
Seven of the eight regions of Ireland - all except the South-East - had an increase in completions in Q2 2022 from the second quarter of 2021. Completions rose the most in Dublin, up 78.8% from 1,526 in Q2 2021 to 2,729 in Q2 2022. There was also a rise of more than 50% in the South-West (64.5%), the Mid-East (55.9%), the Mid-West (54.7%) and the Midlands (50.4%). See Figure 2.
Over three-quarters (76.3% - 1,843 units) of apartment completions were in Dublin. Of all completions in Dublin this quarter, 67.5% were apartments. In Dublin City 94.6% of all completions were apartments with 80.3% in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Outside of Dublin the most apartment completions were in Cork City (109), where 30.0% of completions were apartments. In Galway City, 41.1% of completions were apartments.
The Mid-East region accounted for just over a third (34.3% - 1,338 units) of the total scheme dwellings in this quarter. Meath was the local authority with the highest number of scheme completions (461) followed by Kildare (449) and Fingal (347).
The South-West region had the highest number of single dwelling completions in Q2 2022 (253) followed by the West (230). The local authority with the highest number of single completions was Cork County (170). See Table 3.
Classification into local authorities has taken into account boundary changes between Cork City and Cork County which came into effect in May 2019. All historical data within the tables below and the PxStat interactive tables have been revised to now be based on the new boundaries. However, data within archived releases have stayed as is.
The Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest number of new dwelling completions in Q2 2022 was Ballyfermot-Drimnagh with 376. The area with the next highest number of completions was Killiney-Shankill with 218, followed by Glencullen-Sandyford with 203. Nine of the top ten LEAs with the most completions this quarter were in Dublin with the exception being Laytown-Bettystown in Meath where there were 158 completions. See Figure 3.
New dwelling completions by LEA going back to the start of the series in 2011 by year and quarter can be viewed in the PxStat tables NDA05 and NDQ09. There is also data available by Eircode Routing Key by year and quarter in PxStat tables NDA01 and NDQ07.
The total number of domestic ESB connections in Q2 2022 was 8,521. This is a rise of 41.0% on the 6,044 connections in Q2 2021. The ESB domestic connections series continues to show a comparable trend to the NDC series compiled by the CSO as shown in Figure 4. The number of new dwelling completions as a percentage of total ESB domestic connections was 89.8% this quarter, which is the highest it has been since the series began in 2011.
There are still some small differences in volume between the two series. The starting point for the NDC series is the ESB domestic connections dataset, with adjustments made to account for previously finished houses in unfinished housing developments (UFHDs), reconnections and non-dwellings as shown in Figure 5 and Table 4.
A property that is reconnected to the ESB Network after having been disconnected for more than two years is assigned a new Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) and is therefore included in the ESB connections datasets and here considered to be a reconnection. There were 541 reconnections in Q2 2022, a drop of 21.6% from 690 in Q2 2021. Excluding Q2 2020 - when there were initial COVID-19 restrictions - this is the lowest number of quarterly reconnections since Q2 2016. Reconnections accounted for 6.3% of all ESB connections this quarter.
The number and proportion of previously finished dwellings in unfinished housing developments (UFHDs) continues to be very low, with only 97 his quarter - just 1.1% of all connections. In Q3 2014, UFHDs accounted for 24.4% of connections. The number of non-dwellings - mostly farm buildings - remains fairly static with 229 this quarter. See Figure 5 and Table 4.
Table 5 shows the type of ESB connection by NUTS3 region in Q2 2022. The highest number of reconnections (85) was in Dublin and the South-West. Non-dwellings were highest (37) in the South-West region with the Midlands having the highest number of UFHDs (29). Dublin had the highest proportion of connections being new dwelling completions (96.6%) with the Border region having the lowest (74.4%).
Figure 6 shows that the average new dwelling size is continuing to gradually fall year on year. The decline in the average new dwelling size index - to 74 for the first two quarters of 2022 - is driven by both an increase in the proportion of completed dwellings being apartments and also a decrease in the size of single dwellings (see Table 6). The average new dwelling size index is obtained by linking ESB connections to BER assessment data from the SEAI for new dwelling completions (see Table 7 in Background Notes for match rates).
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the release, Justin Anderson, Statistician, said: “The number of new dwelling completions in the second quarter of 2022 was 7,654, up 53.4% when compared with the same quarter in 2021. This was also up by 58.8% from pre-pandemic Q2 2019. The number of new dwelling completions in Q2 2022 is the highest number of quarterly completions seen since the series began in 2011.
There has been an increase in all dwelling types this quarter when compared with the second quarter of 2021. Apartment completions rose 88.1% to 2,415, with scheme dwellings up 53.3% to 3,905, and single dwellings increasing 15.1% to 1,334. Of all completions in Q2 2022, 51.0% were scheme, 31.6% were apartments, and 17.4% were single dwellings.
Seven of the eight regions of Ireland saw an increase in completions from Q2 2021, with an 78.8% rise in Dublin and a more than 50% increase in the South-West, Mid-East, Mid-West, and the Midlands. There was a 9.6% drop in completions in the South-East. More than three-quarters of all apartment completions were in Dublin (76.3%) with apartments accounting for more than two-thirds of all new dwelling completions in Dublin (67.5%). The Mid-East region accounted for 34.3% of total scheme dwellings this quarter while the South-West region had the highest number of single dwelling completions, with 19.0% of all nationally.
At a Local Electoral Area (LEA) level, Ballyfermot-Drimnagh in Dublin had the most completions this quarter with 376. Nine of the ten LEAs with the most completions were in Dublin, with the exception being Laytown-Bettystown in Meath.”