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Planning Permissions Quarter 1 2023

Number of dwelling units approved increased by 37.8% in Quarter 1 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-5279

CSO statistical publication, 09 June 2023, 11am

Advisory Note

Users should note that changes to applications processes for Strategic Housing Developments (SHD) and related issues in An Bord Pleanála in 2022 may impact the number of planning permissions granted over recent quarters. Users should also note that the backlog of SHD applications which have been both processed and are still before the Bord awaiting decision, may also impact the number of planning permissions granted over recent quarters.

Key Findings

There was an annual increase of 37.8% in the total number of dwelling units approved at 11,659 units in Q1 2023 compared with 8,463 units in Q1 2022.
Housing units accounted for 53% of all dwelling units approved, while apartments accounted for the remaining 47%.
The number of houses granted planning permission rose by 31% on an annual basis to 6,146 housing units, while apartment approvals rose by 46% to 5,513 units.
There was an annual rise of more than 81% in the number of multi-development houses receiving planning permission, compared with a decrease of almost 32% in one-off houses.
Across the four local authorities of Dublin, planning permission was granted for 4,637 apartments in Q1 2023, accounting for more than 84% of all apartments granted planning permission in the state between January and March of this year.
More than half (53.4%) of all dwelling units granted planning permission in the state in Q1 2023 were in the Fingal County Council local authority area, with 4,031 apartment units and 2,193 houses.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (09 June 2023) released Planning Permissions Quarter 1 2023.

Commenting on the release, Shane O'Sullivan, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: “The number of units granted planning permission in Quarter 1 (January, February, and March) 2023 was 11,659 units. Of this, 52.7% (6,146) were for houses and 47.3% (5,513) were for apartments. The number of apartments approved increased by 46.0% when compared with Quarter 1 2022. The number of houses approved in Quarter 1 2023 rose by 31.1% over the same period. There was a total annual increase of 37.8% in the number of dwelling unit approvals.

Planning permission was granted for 4,637 apartments in Dublin in Q1 2023, accounting for 84.1% of all apartments granted planning approval in the state. There were 6,224 dwelling units approved in the Fingal County Council area (4,031 apartments and 2,193 houses), accounting for 53.4% of all dwelling units granted planning permission in Q1 2023. During the same period, the West Region (Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon) recorded the lowest number of apartment units (17) granted planning permission.

Of the 6,042 planning permissions granted for all developments in Q1 2023, 1,734 were for new construction dwellings, 1,782 for other new constructions, 1,616 for extensions, and 910 permissions were for alterations and conversions."

Headline Table

The headline table shows the total number of dwelling units (Houses and Apartments) granted planning permission in Quarter 1 (Q1) of 2022 and 2023. It also highlights the annual percentage changes.

Dwelling units granted planning permission in Quarter 1 of 2022 and 2023
	Houses	Apartments	Total
Quarter 1 2022	4,687	3,776	8,463
Quarter 1 2023	6,146	5,513	11,659
Annual % change	31.1%	46.0%	37.8%

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Headline Table (XLS 10KB)

Dwelling units granted planning permission

In the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 there were 5,513 apartments granted planning permission. During the same period, 4,726 multi-development houses and 1,420 one-off houses were approved.

Table 1 Summary of planning permissions granted for new houses and apartments, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

Table 1 Summary of planning permissions granted for new houses and apartments, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023
		Multi-Development Houses				One-Off Houses				All Houses				Apartments
Period		Number of Permissions	Number of Units	Floor Area (000 m²)	Average Floor Area per Unit (m²)	Number of Permissions	Number of Units	Floor Area (000 m²)	Average Floor Area per Unit (m²)	Number of Permissions	Number of Units	Floor Area (000 m²)	Average Floor Area per Unit (m²)	Number of Permissions	Number of Units	Floor Area (000 m²)	Average Floor Area per Unit (m²)
2018	Q1	146	4,367	555	127.1	1,391	1,391	331	238.0	1,537	5,758	886	153.9	161	1,867	159	85.2
	Q2	149	3,636	482	132.6	1,315	1,315	312	237.1	1,464	4,951	794	160.4	161	1,826	166	91.0
	Q3	177	3,463	442	127.6	1,416	1,416	335	236.9	1,593	4,879	777	159.3	210	2,976	265	88.9
	Q4	150	3,017	385	127.7	1,359	1,359	323	237.4	1,509	4,376	708	161.8	160	2,306	190	82.2
	Year	622	14,483	1,865	128.8	5,481	5,481	1,301	237.3	6,103	19,964	3,166	158.6	692	8,975	780	86.9
2019	Q1	157	3,438	445	129.5	1,456	1,456	340	233.7	1,613	4,894	785	160.5	195	2,378	205	86.1
	Q2	169	3,549	461	129.8	1,387	1,387	320	230.7	1,556	4,936	781	158.2	201	4,520	378	83.7
	Q3	168	3,401	434	127.8	1,514	1,514	355	234.5	1,682	4,915	790	160.6	226	5,174	398	76.9
	Q4	149	3,553	438	123.4	1,265	1,265	296	234.2	1,414	4,818	735	152.5	169	6,826	536	78.5
	Year	643	13,941	1,779	127.6	5,622	5,622	1,312	233.3	6,265	19,563	3,090	158.0	791	18,898	1,516	80.2
2020	Q1	171	3,227	408	126.4	1,355	1,355	311	229.6	1,526	4,582	719	156.9	188	8,500	637	75.0
	Q2	92	2,394	284	118.5	669	669	157	234.3	761	3,063	440	143.8	102	4,208	300	71.2
	Q3	160	3,878	464	119.6	1,754	1,754	414	235.8	1,914	5,632	877	155.8	265	6,850	505	73.7
	Q4	129	2,918	333	114.0	1,514	1,514	363	239.5	1,643	4,432	695	156.9	187	5,104	403	78.9
	Year	552	12,417	1,488	119.8	5,292	5,292	1,244	235.1	5,844	17,709	2,732	154.3	742	24,662	1,844	74.8
2021	Q1	104	1,428	175	122.8	1,661	1,661	400	240.7	1,765	3,089	575	186.2	193	3,874	274	70.8
	Q2	120	2,100	249	118.7	1,786	1,786	431	241.1	1,906	3,886	680	175.0	222	7,264	497	68.5
	Q3	120	2,383	287	120.4	2,018	2,018	482	238.9	2,138	4,401	769	174.7	207	7,027	519	73.8
	Q4	128	3,309	398	120.4	2,034	2,034	493	242.4	2,162	5,343	891	166.8	188	8,107	559	68.9
	Year	472	9,220	1,110	120.4	7,499	7,499	1,806	240.8	7,971	16,719	2,915	174.4	810	26,272	1,849	70.4
2022	Q1	132	2,606	311	119.4	2,081	2,081	505	242.6	2,213	4,687	816	174.1	200	3,776	291	77.0
	Q2	124	2,692	322	119.8	1,840	1,840	443	240.6	1,964	4,532	765	168.9	189	6,842	482	70.4
	Q3	117	2,749	319	116.0	1,647	1,647	392	237.8	1,764	4,396	711	161.6	158	2,347	172	73.5
	Q4	104	2,483	302	121.6	1,356	1,356	321	236.7	1,460	3,839	623	162.3	148	3,758	300	80.0
	Year	477	10,530	1,255	119.2	6,924	6,924	1,660	239.8	7,401	17,454	2,915	167.0	695	16,723	1,246	74.5
2023	Q1	124	4,726	548	116.1	1,420	1,420	331	233.1	1,544	6,146	879	143.1	182	5,513	434	78.8

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 1 (XLS 39KB)

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Houses accounted for 52.7% of all new dwelling units granted planning permission in Q1 2023 with 6,146 units approved. There were 5,513 apartments granted planning permission in Quarter 1 of 2023. This is the third consecutive quarter where more houses than apartments have been granted planning permission.

Table 2a Summary of new dwelling units granted planning permission, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

Table 2a Summary of new dwelling units granted planning permission, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023
Period		Multi- Development Houses	Annual % change	One-off houses	Annual % change	All Houses	Annual % change	Apartments	Annual % change	Total Dwellings (All Houses & Apartments)	Annual % change
2018	Q1	4,367	76.0%	1,391	9.3%	5,758	53.4%	1,867	108.4%	7,625	64.0%
	Q2	3,636	52.6%	1,315	5.4%	4,951	36.4%	1,826	121.9%	6,777	52.2%
	Q3	3,463	45.4%	1,416	2.5%	4,879	29.6%	2,976	205.2%	7,855	65.8%
	Q4	3,017	1.6%	1,359	2.8%	4,376	2.0%	2,306	-12.7%	6,682	-3.6%
	Year	14,483	41.8%	5,481	4.9%	19,964	29.3%	8,975	68.2%	28,939	39.3%
2019	Q1	3,438	-21.3%	1,456	4.7%	4,894	-15.0%	2,378	27.4%	7,272	-4.6%
	Q2	3,549	-2.4%	1,387	5.5%	4,936	-0.3%	4,520	147.5%	9,456	39.5%
	Q3	3,401	-1.8%	1,514	6.9%	4,915	0.7%	5,174	73.9%	10,089	28.4%
	Q4	3,553	17.8%	1,265	-6.9%	4,818	10.1%	6,826	196.0%	11,644	74.3%
	Year	13,941	-3.7%	5,622	2.6%	19,563	-2.0%	18,898	110.6%	38,461	32.9%
2020	Q1	3,227	-6.1%	1,355	-6.9%	4,582	-6.4%	8,500	257.4%	13,082	79.9%
	Q2	2,394	-32.5%	669	-51.8%	3,063	-37.9%	4,208	-6.9%	7,271	-23.1%
	Q3	3,878	14.0%	1,754	15.9%	5,632	14.6%	6,850	32.4%	12,482	23.7%
	Q4	2,918	-17.9%	1,514	19.7%	4,432	-8.0%	5,104	-25.2%	9,536	-18.1%
	Year	12,417	-10.9%	5,292	-5.9%	17,709	-9.5%	24,662	30.5%	42,371	10.2%
2021	Q1	1,428	-55.7%	1,661	22.6%	3,089	-32.6%	3,874	-54.4%	6,963	-46.8%
	Q2	2,100	-12.3%	1,786	167.0%	3,886	26.9%	7,264	72.6%	11,150	53.3%
	Q3	2,383	-38.6%	2,018	15.1%	4,401	-21.9%	7,027	2.6%	11,428	-8.4%
	Q4	3,309	13.4%	2,034	34.3%	5,343	20.6%	8,107	58.8%	13,450	41.0%
	Year	9,220	-25.7%	7,499	41.7%	16,719	-5.6%	26,272	6.5%	42,991	1.5%
2022	Q1	2,606	82.5%	2,081	25.3%	4,687	51.7%	3,776	-2.5%	8,463	21.5%
	Q2	2,692	28.2%	1,840	3.0%	4,532	16.6%	6,842	-5.8%	11,374	2.0%
	Q3	2,749	15.4%	1,647	-18.4%	4,396	-0.1%	2,347	-66.6%	6,743	-41.0%
	Q4	2,483	-25.0%	1,356	-33.3%	3,839	-28.1%	3,758	-53.6%	7,597	-43.5%
	Year	10,530	14.2%	6,924	-7.7%	17,454	4.4%	16,723	-36.3%	34,177	-20.5%
2023	Q1	4,726	81.4%	1,420	-31.8%	6,146	31.1%	5,513	46.0%	11,659	37.8%

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 2a (XLS 12KB)

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Table 2b Year to date aggregates of new dwelling units granted planning permission, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

Planning permissions granted by type of construction

In total, there were 6,042 planning permissions granted for all developments in Q1 2023. Of these permissions, 1,734 were for new construction dwellings, 1,782 for other new constructions, 1,616 for extensions, and 910 permissions were for alterations and conversions.

Of the 1,734 new construction dwellings granted planning permission, 1,420 were one-off houses, 182 were apartments, 124 were multi-development houses, and eight were communal dwellings.

For long labels below use to display on multiple lines	Status
New construction dwellings	1734
New construciton other	1782
Extensions	1616
Alterations and conversions	910

For long labels below use to display on multiple lines	Status
Multi-development houses	124
One-off houses	1420
Apartments	182
Communal dwellings	8

Table 3a Summary of planning permissions granted, Q1 2023, classified by region, county and type of development

Table 3a Summary of planning permissions granted, Q1 2023, classified by region, county and type of development
	Number of Permissions					Total Floor Area (000 square metres)¹
Planning Region and County	New Construction Dwellings	New Construction Other	Extensions	Alterations and Conversions	Total	New Construction Dwellings	New Construction Other	Extensions	Total²
Northern and Western	509	348	266	145	1,268	137	49	42	228
Border	209	198	143	70	620	57	32	25	114
Cavan	32	50	26	14	122	8	12	3	23
Donegal	122	81	70	31	304	32	6	14	52
Leitrim	15	9	10	7	41	4	1	1	5
Monaghan	21	12	11	7	51	8	4	5	17
Sligo	19	46	26	11	102	5	10	2	17
West	300	150	123	75	648	79	17	17	113
Galway City	10	27	18	28	83	4	3	2	9
Galway³	153	65	57	24	299	44	5	6	54
Mayo	112	28	34	16	190	25	4	7	36
Roscommon	25	30	14	7	76	7	6	2	15

Southern	710	673	546	252	2,181	323	185	78	585
Mid-West	218	218	163	75	674	100	69	21	190
Clare	88	55	54	19	216	37	3	4	45
Limerick	64	65	59	29	217	27	18	6	51
Tipperary	66	98	50	27	241	35	48	10	94
South-East	200	218	163	71	652	100	77	19	197
Carlow	22	25	12	11	70	5	1	1	7
Kilkenny	31	43	29	8	111	8	41	3	52
Waterford	58	62	61	26	207	44	12	5	60
Wexford	89	88	61	26	264	43	23	11	77
South-West	292	237	220	106	855	122	38	38	199
Cork City	19	35	42	31	127	18	2	13	33
Cork³	211	128	127	25	491	88	33	19	140
Kerry	62	74	51	50	237	16	4	5	25

Eastern and Midland	515	761	804	513	2,593	873	351	110	1,334
Dublin	161	408	510	347	1,426	679	257	57	993
Dublin City	49	160	191	187	587	23	16	28	67
Dun Laoghaire- Rathdown	30	59	107	85	281	19	7	6	32
Fingal	64	148	123	45	380	567	186	14	767
South Dublin	18	41	89	30	178	71	48	9	128
Mid-East	194	225	212	124	755	111	57	34	202
Louth	25	40	43	24	132	21	9	7	37
Kildare	40	81	66	44	231	20	34	15	70
Meath	79	77	66	42	264	48	12	9	70
Wicklow	50	27	37	14	128	22	1	2	25
Midland	160	128	82	42	412	83	37	20	140
Laois	60	36	26	9	131	20	11	2	34
Longford	13	20	13	5	51	13	16	1	31
Offaly	49	41	24	14	128	14	5	6	25
Westmeath	38	31	19	14	102	35	5	10	50

State	1,734	1,782	1,616	910	6,042	1,332	585	230	2,147
¹Rounding issues may occur.
²For categories where floor area is a relevant measure.
³Excluding cities.

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 3a (XLS 728KB)

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Table 3b Summary of planning permissions granted for new houses, apartments and communal dwellings, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

An annual decrease of 22.0% has been recorded in the number of planning permissions granted for all developments, with 7,742 permissions approved in Q1 2022 compared with 6,042 permissions approved in the current quarter. During the same period an annual decrease of 28.6% was recorded in the number of planning permissions granted for new construction dwellings. There were also annual decreases in approvals for alterations and conversions (-28.1%), extensions (-18.4%), and other new constructions (-13.7%).

3c Summary of planning permissions granted, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

Table 3c Summary of planning permissions granted, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023
		Number of Permissions					Total Floor Area (000 square metres)¹
Period		New Construction Dwellings	New Construction Other	Extensions	Alterations and Conversions	Total	New Construction Dwellings	New Construction Other	Extensions	Total²
2018	Q1	1,711	1,769	1,658	872	6,010	1,146	571	220	1,938
	Q2	1,639	2,085	2,059	1,040	6,823	996	606	255	1,857
	Q3	1,812	2,250	2,223	1,147	7,432	1,083	648	260	1,991
	Q4	1,678	1,883	1,750	989	6,300	908	494	270	1,672
	Year	6,840	7,987	7,690	4,048	26,565	4,133	2,319	1,006	7,458
2019	Q1	1,821	2,037	1,924	1,152	6,934	1,014	606	204	1,824
	Q2	1,771	2,071	1,969	1,224	7,035	1,211	650	232	2,094
	Q3	1,918	2,385	2,125	1,293	7,721	1,198	808	266	2,272
	Q4	1,594	1,923	1,611	1,049	6,177	1,321	500	222	2,043
	Year	7,104	8,416	7,629	4,718	27,867	4,744	2,564	925	8,233
2020	Q1	1,731	2,041	1,736	1,123	6,631	1,377	801	219	2,397
	Q2	869	1,092	874	554	3,389	751	323	99	1,173
	Q3	2,191	2,537	2,369	1,415	8,512	1,411	687	308	2,405
	Q4	1,842	2,168	1,860	1,147	7,017	1,144	721	193	2,058
	Year	6,633	7,838	6,839	4,239	25,549	4,683	2,532	819	8,033
2021	Q1	1,963	2,032	2,191	1,325	7,511	864	626	220	1,711
	Q2	2,142	2,390	2,477	1,520	8,529	1,224	746	245	2,215
	Q3	2,355	2,471	2,790	1,621	9,237	1,306	846	264	2,416
	Q4	2,355	1,959	1,802	1,106	7,222	1,461	530	209	2,200
	Year	8,815	8,852	9,260	5,572	32,499	4,854	2,748	939	8,542
2022	Q1	2,430	2,066	1,981	1,265	7,742	1,128	549	220	1,897
	Q2	2,161	1,948	1,844	1,105	7,058	1,264	452	214	1,930
	Q3	1,930	1,814	1,922	1,077	6,743	901	555	267	1,724
	Q4	1,615	1,577	1,634	865	5,691	936	520	195	1,652
	Year	8,136	7,405	7,381	4,312	27,234	4,229	2,076	897	7,202
2023	Q1	1,734	1,782	1,616	910	6,042	1,332	585	230	2,147
¹ Rounding issues may occur.
²For categories where floor area is a relevant measure.

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 3c (XLS 39KB)

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Planning permissions granted by type of development and functional category

There were 6,042 planning permissions granted for all functional categories in Q1 2023. Dwelling units accounted for 60.8% (3,675) of all permissions granted. Of these 3,675 permissions granted, 1,734 were for new constructions, 1,353 were for extensions, and 588 were for alterations and conversions.

Table 4a Planning permissions granted, Q1 2023, classified by region, type of development and functional category

Table 4a Planning permissions granted, Q1 2023, classified by region, type of development and functional category
	Functional Category
Type of Development and Planning Region	Dwellings	Commercial Buildings	Buildings for Agriculture	Industrial Buildings	Govt-, Health and Education	Other Buildings for Social Use	Civil Eng.	Other	Total
NEW CONSTRUCTIONS
Northern and Western	509	20	24	15	7	10	109	163	857
Border	209	13	16	8	4	7	67	83	407
West	300	7	8	7	3	3	42	80	450
Southern	710	25	82	27	9	10	237	283	1,383
Mid-West	218	6	35	6	2	5	73	91	436
South-East	200	11	24	10	5	2	86	80	418
South West	292	8	23	11	2	3	78	112	529
Eastern and Midland	515	50	32	42	34	20	189	394	1,276
Dublin	161	29	3	18	23	14	80	241	569
Mid-East	194	13	17	9	8	2	73	103	419
Midland	160	8	12	15	3	4	36	50	288
State	1,734	95	138	84	50	40	535	840	3,516

EXTENSIONS
Northern and Western	209	17	4	10	19	7	-	-	266
Border	110	9	4	8	9	3	-	-	143
West	99	8	-	2	10	4	-	-	123
Southern	454	38	14	9	20	11	-	-	546
Mid-West	139	12	6	1	2	3	-	-	163
South-East	129	12	7	3	6	6	-	-	163
South West	186	14	1	5	12	2	-	-	220
Eastern and Midland	690	48	2	21	37	6	-	-	804
Dublin	457	24	-	9	17	3	-	-	510
Mid-East	170	20	2	7	12	1	-	-	212
Midland	63	4	-	5	8	2	-	-	82
State	1,353	103	20	40	76	24	-	-	1,616

ALTERATIONS AND CONVERSIONS
Northern and Western	70	34	2	3	26	10	-	-	145
Border	32	22	2	2	10	2	-	-	70
West	38	12	-	1	16	8	-	-	75
Southern	146	68	1	5	24	8	-	-	252
Mid-West	53	12	-	1	7	2	-	-	75
South-East	43	21	1	2	1	3	-	-	71
South West	50	35	-	2	16	3	-	-	106
Eastern and Midland	372	92	1	8	28	12	-	-	513
Dublin	271	48	1	5	16	6	-	-	347
Mid-East	73	35	-	2	9	5	-	-	124
Midland	28	9	-	1	3	1	-	-	42
State	588	194	4	16	78	30	-	-	910

ALL DEVELOPMENTS
Northern and Western	788	71	30	28	52	27	109	163	1,268
Border	351	44	22	18	23	12	67	83	620
West	437	27	8	10	29	15	42	80	648
Southern	1,310	131	97	41	53	29	237	283	2,181
Mid-West	410	30	41	8	11	10	73	91	674
South-East	372	44	32	15	12	11	86	80	652
South-West	528	57	24	18	30	8	78	112	855
Eastern and Midland	1,577	190	35	71	99	38	189	394	2,593
Dublin	889	101	4	32	56	23	80	241	1,426
Mid-East	437	68	19	18	29	8	73	103	755
Midland	251	21	12	21	14	7	36	50	412
State	3,675	392	162	140	204	94	535	840	6,042
- No permissions

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 4a (XLS 91KB)

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Table 4b Total floor area planned (000 square metres) in new construction and extensions, Q1 2023, classified by region and functional category

Table 4b Total Floor Area Planned (000 square metres)¹in new construction and extensions, Q1 2023, classified by region and functional category
	Functional Category
Type of Development and Planning Region	Dwellings	Commercial Buildings	Buildings for Agriculture	Industrial Buildings	Govt., Health and Education	Other Buildings for Social Use	Total²
NEW CONSTRUCTIONS
Northern and Western	137	9	16	7	10	7	186
Border	57	7	12	6	3	4	89
West	79	2	4	1	7	3	96
Southern	323	17	72	74	15	6	507
Mid-West	100	10	27	18	12	3	169
South-East	100	6	28	39	2	1	177
South West	122	1	18	17	1	2	161
Eastern and Midland	873	120	20	125	61	25	1,224
Dublin	679	108	1	102	26	21	936
Mid-East	111	8	14	1	34	0	168
Midland	83	4	5	22	1	5	120
State	1,332	145	109	206	87	38	1,917

EXTENSIONS
Northern and Western	17	6	1	8	9	1	42
Border	9	1	1	7	7	0	25
West	8	5	-	1	3	0	17
Southern	33	10	10	8	13	3	78
Mid-West	11	3	4	0	3	1	21
South-East	9	2	4	1	2	1	19
South West	13	6	2	6	8	2	38
Eastern and Midland	40	29	1	17	20	3	110
Dublin	22	21	-	7	4	2	57
Mid-East	11	5	1	4	13	1	34
Midland	6	4	-	6	4	0	20
State	90	46	12	33	43	7	230

TOTAL NEW CONSTRUCTIONS AND EXTENSIONS
Northern and Western	153	15	17	15	19	8	228
Border	66	8	13	13	10	4	114
West	87	7	4	2	10	3	113
Southern	356	27	83	82	29	9	585
Mid-West	111	12	31	18	15	3	190
South-East	109	8	32	40	5	2	197
South West	136	7	19	24	9	4	199
Eastern and Midland	913	149	21	142	81	29	1,334
Dublin	701	128	1	109	29	23	993
Mid-East	122	13	14	4	47	1	202
Midland	89	8	5	28	5	5	140
State	1,422	191	121	239	129	45	2,147
¹0 implies less than 500 sq.m. Rounding issues may occur.
²For categories where floor area is a relevant measure.

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 4b (XLS 94KB)

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Apartments granted planning permission

There were 5,513 new apartments granted planning permission in Q1 2023.

Dublin had the highest proportion of new apartments approved with 84.1% (4,637) of all apartments granted planning permission in the state, followed by the Mid-East region with 6.2% (343 apartments), and the South-West region with 2.5% (136 apartments). The Eastern and Midland region (Dublin, Mid-East, and Midlands) accounted for 5,098 new apartments, 92.5% of the overall total granted planning permission. The Southern region (South-West, South-East, and Mid-West) accounted for 5.6% (308) of apartment approvals with the Northern and Western region (Border and West) accounting for the remaining 1.9% (107 apartments).

Within the county of Dublin, Fingal County Council accounted for 73.1% (4,031) of the total number of apartment units granted planning permission in the state in Q1 2023. Outside of Dublin, the highest numbers of apartments granted planning permissions were in counties Kildare (140 apartments) and Meath (139 apartments). Counties Roscommon and Sligo did not grant any planning permissions for apartments during the current quarter.

In Q1 and Q2 2023 Cork City & County and Galway City & County data were populated incorrectly in Table 5b, Figures 5b and 5d. This was corrected on Tuesday 19 September 2023.

Table 5a Apartment units granted planning permission by region, Q1 2020 - Q1 2023

Houses granted planning permission

There were 6,146 new houses granted planning permission in Q1 2023.

Dublin had the highest proportion of new houses approved with 44.3% (2,723) of all houses granted planning permission in the state. This was followed by the South-West region with 10.6% (652) of house approvals and the South-East region with 10.3% (635 houses). The Eastern and Midland region (Dublin, Mid-East, and Midlands) accounted for 3,749 new houses, 61.0% of the total number of new houses granted planning permission. The Southern region (South-West, South-East, and Mid-West) accounted for 29.6% (1,821) of house approvals with the Northern and Western region (Border and West) accounting for the remaining 9.4% (576 houses).

In Q1 2023, there were 6,146 houses granted planning permission. Dublin had the highest proportion of houses granted planning permission at 44.3% (2,723 houses). Within the county of Dublin, Fingal County Council accounted for 35.7% (2,193) of the total number of house units granted planning permission in the state in Q1 2023. Cork had the second highest number of houses granted planning permission at 9.6% (593 houses), followed by Wexford at 4.8% (295 houses) and Waterford at 4.7% (286 houses). Monaghan with 18 houses had the lowest proportion of houses granted planning permission, followed by Carlow and Sligo with 20 houses each.

Table 5b Dwelling units granted planning permission by county, Q1 2023

Dwelling units granted by type of application – Strategic Housing Development (SHD) and non-SHD applications

The Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process is where applications of at least 100 residential units or 200+ student bed spaces can be made directly to An Bord Pleanála.

In comparison with Q1 2022, there was an annual increase of 112.8% (2,635 to 5,608) in the total number of SHD dwelling units approved. There was an annual increase of 242.6% in the number of houses approved under the SHD process, compared with 78.1% of SHD apartments approved. In Q1 2023, 48.1% of all planning permissions (3,703 apartments and 1,905 houses) were granted under the SHD process. Apartments accounted for 66.0% of all successful SHD applications. Of the 6,146 houses granted planning permission, 31.0% were granted under the SHD process.

Please note: The Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process expired to new applications on 25 February 2022. It has been succeeded by the Large-Scale Residential Development (LRD) scheme. Please see Background Notes.

X-axis label	Non-Strategic Housing Development units	Strategic Housing Development units
2022 Q1 - Apartment units	1697	2079
2022 Q1 - Multi-development house units	2050	556
2022 Q2 - Apartment units	1347	5495
2022 Q2 - Multi-development house units	1845	847
2022 Q3 - Apartment units	1126	1221
2022 Q3 - Multi-development house units	2126	623
2022 Q4 - Apartment units	1008	2750
2022 Q4 - Multi-development house units	1843	640
2023 Q1 - Apartment units	1810	3703
2023 Q1 - Multi-development house units	2821	1905

Table 6 Apartment, multi-development and one-off house units granted planning permission by type of application, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

Table 6 Apartment, multi-development and one-off house units granted planning permission by type of application, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023
		Apartment units			Multi-development house units			One-off houses		Total house units²
Period		SHD	Non-SHD	Total	SHD	Non-SHD	Total	SHD	Non-SHD	SHD	Non-SHD	Total
2018	Q1	0	1,867	1,867	0	4,367	4,367	0	1,391	0	5,758	5,758
	Q2³	199	1,627	1,826	668	2,968	3,636	0	1,315	668	4,283	4,951
	Q3	1,563	1,413	2,976	950	2,513	3,463	0	1,416	950	3,929	4,879
	Q4	1,142	1,164	2,306	611	2,406	3,017	0	1,359	611	3,765	4,376
	Year	2,904	6,071	8,975	2,229	12,254	14,483	0	5,481	2,229	17,735	19,964
2019	Q1	587	1,791	2,378	281	3,157	3,438	0	1,456	281	4,613	4,894
	Q2	2,266	2,254	4,520	1,160	2,389	3,549	0	1,387	1,160	3,776	4,936
	Q3	3,212	1,962	5,174	659	2,742	3,401	0	1,514	659	4,256	4,915
	Q4	5,514	1,312	6,826	1,758	1,795	3,553	0	1,265	1,758	3,060	4,818
	Year	11,579	7,319	18,898	3,858	10,083	13,941	0	5,622	3,858	15,705	19,563
2020	Q1	6,750	1,750	8,500	1,428	1,799	3,227	1	1,354	1,429	3,153	4,582
	Q2	3,546	662	4,208	1,017	1,377	2,394	0	669	1,017	2,046	3,063
	Q3	5,356	1,494	6,850	1,753	2,125	3,878	0	1,754	1,753	3,879	5,632
	Q4	2,775	2,329	5,104	1,106	1,812	2,918	0	1,514	1,106	3,326	4,432
	Year	18,427	6,235	24,662	5,304	7,113	12,417	1	5,291	5,305	12,404	17,709
2021	Q1	2,774	1,100	3,874	146	1,282	1,428	0	1,661	146	2,943	3,089
	Q2	4,579	2,685	7,264	535	1,565	2,100	0	1,786	535	3,351	3,886
	Q3	5,122	1,905	7,027	598	1,785	2,383	0	2,018	598	3,803	4,401
	Q4	6,658	1,449	8,107	1,024	2,285	3,309	0	2,034	1,024	4,319	5,343
	Year	19,133	7,139	26,272	2,303	6,917	9,220	0	7,499	2,303	14,416	16,719
2022	Q1	2,079	1,697	3,776	556	2,050	2,606	0	2,081	556	4,131	4,687
	Q2	5,495	1,347	6,842	847	1,845	2,692	0	1,840	847	3,685	4,532
	Q3	1,221	1,126	2,347	623	2,126	2,749	0	1,647	623	3,773	4,396
	Q4	2,750	1,008	3,758	640	1,843	2,483	0	1,356	640	3,199	3,839
	Year	11,545	5,178	16,723	2,666	7,864	10,530	0	6,924	2,666	14,788	17,454
2023	Q1	3,703	1,810	5,513	1,905	2,821	4,726	0	1,420	1,905	4,241	6,146
¹Planning permissions granted for Strategic Housing Development (SHD) applications may be annulled by the high court.
²Total house units is a combination of multi-development and one off houses.
³Quarter 2 of 2018 was the first quarter SHD planning permissions were granted.

Open in Excel: Planning Permissions Q1 2023 Table 6 (XLS 40KB)

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Planning Permissions Quarter 1 2023