Building Projects Face Huge Planning Delays

/ 11th March 2016 /

The total value of all construction projects commenced in 2015 jumped significantly over the year, up from €3.19 billion in 2014 to €6.12 billion, according to the latest Building Information Index.

However, the time taken to get from planning application to start of works on site is getting longer, and on average is now up to 75 weeks — almost a year and a half. Residential sector projects were slowest from planning stage to construction start, at 138 weeks, up from the 132 recorded on the previous BIF, a massive two years and seven months.

The fastest sectors from application to commencement were education (52 weeks) and agriculture (52 weeks) followed by industrial (54 weeks).

In terms of the value of commencements, Munster led the way among the regions with gains of 206%, while Dublin starts rose by 134%, Leinster 55% and Connacht/Ulster 34%.

Danny O’Shea of Building Information Ireland said: “The strongest performing sector of the seven within the industry is once again commercial and retail with growth of 217%. Industrial construction was up 160%. The really good news for all those looking at the residential construction sector is that the growth in project commencements was up 114%, a doubling of output to €2.74 billion in 2015, compared with the previous year, helping to firmly establish residential construction as the dominant component of the entire construction industry.”

The value of projects that have applied for planning permission was also up by 22% to €15.43 billion. The largest jump was in the industrial sector with growth of 80% to €1.22 billion, while growth in the larger residential sector was 31%, up €8.23 billion from €6.27 billion the previous year.

A total of 18,270 residential units commenced in 2015, up from 9,880 in 2014 or 85%, reflected in varying degrees of growth in every region. The largest growth of 134% was felt in Dublin at 8,215 individual housing units. Leinster was next with 5,382 units (up 82%), Munster 3,159 units (up 64%) and Connacht/Ulster increased to 1,520 units (up 2%).

Public investment is lagging behind the private sector, according to the BIF. “Investment from the private sector, plus increased consumer and industrial confidence, are driving growth in the construction industry and this is borne out by the fact that, of the €15.43 billion of projects that applied for planning in 2015, only 11% or €1.58 billion was publicly funded.”