Users should note that the number of new dwelling units granted planning permission can vary significantly from quarter to quarter if a large development or a number of large developments are approved within the same reference quarter. Users should therefore exercise caution in extrapolating long-term trends on the basis of a single quarter’s data. Additionally, 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 An Bord Pleanála awaiting decision, may also impact the number of planning permissions granted over recent quarters.
There was an annual decrease of 2.4% in the total number of dwelling units approved in Quarter 2 (Q2) 2024 to 8,513 units, down from 8,723 units in Q2 2023.
Houses accounted for 59% of all dwelling units granted planning permission in Q2 2024, while apartments made up the remaining 41%.
In Q2 2024, the number of houses granted planning permission rose by more than 36% when compared with Q2 2023, while in contrast, apartment approvals declined by 31%.
There was an annual rise of more than 52% in the number of multi-development houses receiving planning permission from 2,530 units in Q2 2023 to 3,852 units in Q2 2024.
There was an annual increase of 2% in the number of one-off houses receiving planning permission in Q2 2024 compared with an annual decrease of more than 9% in Q1 2024.
Across the four local authorities of Dublin, there was an annual decline of 25% in the total number of dwelling units approved in Q2 2024, of which the number of houses approved rose by 151%, compared with a fall of 48% in the number of apartments approved.
In Q2 2024, there was an annual decrease of almost 39% (3,943 to 2,418) in the total number of Strategic Housing Developments (SHD) dwelling units approved, of which the number of houses approved rose by 4%, compared with a fall of 55% in the number of apartments approved.
The headline table shows the total number of dwelling units (Houses and Apartments) granted planning permission in Quarter 2 (Q2) of 2023 and 2024. It also highlights the annual percentage changes.
| Dwelling units granted planning permission in Quarter 2 of 2023 and 2024 | ||||
| Quarter 2 | ||||
| 2023 | 2024 | Change | ||
| Multi-development houses | 2,530 | 3,852 | 1,322 | 52.3% |
| One-off houses | 1,172 | 1,195 | 23 | 2.0% |
| All Houses | 3,702 | 5,047 | 1,345 | 36.3% |
| Apartments | 5,021 | 3,466 | -1,555 | -31.0% |
| Total Dwellings | 8,723 | 8,513 | -210 | -2.4% |
In the second quarter (Q2) of 2024 there were 3,466 apartments granted planning permission. During the same period, 3,852 multi-development houses and 1,195 one-off houses were approved.
Houses accounted for 59.3% of all new dwelling units granted planning permission in Q2 2024 with 5,047 units approved. There were 3,466 apartments granted planning permission in Quarter 2 of 2024. This was in contrast to Q2 2023, when more apartments than houses had been granted planning permission.
In total, there were 6,575 applications for planning permissions granted for all developments in Q2 2024. Applications may relate to a single dwelling or a number of dwellings in the case of multi-unit development applications. Of these applications granted permission, 1,598 were for new construction dwellings, 1,915 for other new constructions, 1,964 for extensions, and 1,098 permissions were for alterations and conversions.
Of the 1,598 new construction dwellings granted planning permission, 1,195 were one-off houses, 223 were apartments, 165 were multi-development houses, and 15 were communal dwellings.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Status |
|---|---|
| New construction dwellings | 1598 |
| New construction other | 1915 |
| Extensions | 1964 |
| Alterations and conversions | 1098 |
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Status |
|---|---|
| Multi-development houses | 165 |
| One-off houses | 1195 |
| Apartments | 223 |
| Communal dwellings | 15 |
An annual increase of 10.4% has been recorded in the number of planning permissions granted for all developments, with 5,955 permissions approved in Q2 2023 compared with 6,575 permissions approved in the current quarter. During the same period an annual increase of 8.6% was recorded in the number of planning permissions granted for new construction dwellings. There were also annual increases in approvals for alterations and conversions (+18.6%), extensions (+11.1%), and other new constructions (+6.9%).
There were 6,575 planning permissions granted for all functional categories in Q2 2024. Dwelling units accounted for 62.6% (4,119) of all permissions granted. Of these 4,119 permissions granted, 1,598 were for new constructions, 1,733 were for extensions, and 788 were for alterations and conversions.
There were 3,466 new apartments granted planning permission in Q2 2024.
Dublin had the highest proportion of new apartments approved with 50.6% (1,754) of all apartments granted planning permission in the state, followed by the Mid-East region with 21.4% (742 apartments) and the West region with 10.2% (355 apartments). The Eastern and Midland region (Dublin, Mid-East, and Midlands) accounted for 2,690 new apartments, 77.6% of the overall total granted planning permission. The Northern and Western region (Border and West) accounted for 11.6% (403) of apartment approvals with the Southern region (Mid-West, South-East, and South-West) accounting for the remaining 10.8% (373 apartments).
Within the county of Dublin, Fingal County Council accounted for 21.7% (753) and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council accounted for 14.3% (496) of the total number of apartment units granted planning permission in the state in Q2 2024. Outside of Dublin, the highest numbers of apartments granted planning permissions were in counties Louth (456 apartments), Galway (342 apartments), and Westmeath (158 apartments). County Monaghan did not grant any planning permissions for apartments during the current quarter.
There were 5,047 new houses granted planning permission in Q2 2024.
The Mid-East region had the highest proportion of new houses approved with 23.6% (1,191) of all houses granted planning permission in the state. This was followed by the Dublin region with 21.0% (1,062) of house approvals and the Mid-West region with 13.7% (689 houses). The Eastern and Midland region (Dublin, Mid-East, and Midlands) accounted for 2,753 new houses, 54.5% of the total number of new houses granted planning permission. The Southern region (Mid-West, South-East, and South-West) accounted for 28.2% (1,423) of house approvals with the Northern and Western region (Border and West) accounting for the remaining 17.3% (871 houses).
Dublin county had the highest proportion of houses granted planning permission at 21.0% (1,062 houses) in the state in Q2 2024. Louth had the second highest number of houses granted planning permission at 8.9% (448 houses), followed by Cork at 7.5% (378 houses) and Westmeath at 7.3% (367 houses). Leitrim with ten houses had the lowest proportion of houses granted planning permission, followed by Longford (24 houses) and Offaly (26 houses).
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 Q2 2023, there was an annual decrease of 38.7% (3,943 to 2,418) in the total number of SHD dwelling units approved. There was an annual rise of 3.8% in the number of houses approved under the SHD process, in contrast to a fall of 55.4% in the number of SHD apartments approved. In Q2 2024, 28.4% of all planning permissions (1,261 apartments and 1,157 houses) were granted under the SHD process. Apartments accounted for 52.2% of all successful SHD applications. Of the 5,047 houses granted planning permission, 22.9% (1,157) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 Q2 - Apartment units | 2193 | 2828 |
| 2023 Q2 - Multi-development house units | 1415 | 1115 |
| 2023 Q3 - Apartment units | 2516 | 2287 |
| 2023 Q3 - Multi-development house units | 2388 | 1244 |
| 2023 Q4 - Apartment units | 1296 | 4854 |
| 2023 Q4 - Multi-development house units | 2582 | 1236 |
| 2024 Q1 - Apartment units | 2053 | 1435 |
| 2024 Q1 - Multi-development house units | 2658 | 953 |
| 2024 Q2 - Apartment units | 2205 | 1261 |
| 2024 Q2 - Multi-development house units | 2695 | 1157 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (20 September 2024) released Planning Permissions for Quarter 2 (Q2) 2024.
Commenting on the release, Shane O'Sullivan, Statistician in the Enterprise Statistics Division, said: “The number of units granted planning permission in April, May, and June (Q2) 2024 was 8,513, of which, 5,047 were for houses and 3,466 were for apartments. The number of apartments approved decreased by almost a third (-31.0%) when compared with Q2 2023. The number of houses approved in Q2 2024 rose by more than 36% over the same period. There was an annual decline of 2.4% in the total number of dwelling unit approvals in Q2 2024, following an annual fall of 28% in the previous quarter.
Planning Permissions by Type of Dwelling
Planning permission was granted for 1,754 apartments in Dublin in Q2 2024, accounting for more than half (50.6%) of all apartments granted planning approval in the state. There were 2,816 dwelling units approved in Dublin (1,754 apartments and 1,062 houses), which made up almost a third (33.1%) of all dwelling units granted planning permission in Q2 2024. During the same period, the Border Region (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, and Monaghan) recorded the lowest number of apartment units (48) granted planning permission.
Of the 6,575 individual applications for planning permissions granted in Q2 2024, there were 1,598 for new construction dwellings, 1,915 for other new constructions, 1,964 for extensions, and 1,098 permissions were for alterations and conversions."