Why Ireland’s housing starts have plummeted – and what it really means

Thanks to the release of the latest official figures, we know now that a total of 6,325 new homes were started in the first half of 2025. Deciding whether that is good news or bad, however, takes a bit more effort than the usual year-on-year comparison.  At first glance, the comparison is not so much bleak as catastrophic. A total of almost 35,000 new homes were started – technically, they had their commencement notice submitted – between January and June 2024. This means that housing starts fell by over 80 per cent in the first half of this year, compared…