Annual residential property price inflation was measured at 14% in November 2021, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office. 

Dublin residential property prices rose 12.8%, while property prices outside Dublin were 15% higher.

Statistician Viacheslav Voronovich commented: “In Dublin house prices increased by 13.5% and apartment prices increased by 9.7%. The highest house price growth in Dublin was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at 15.5%, while Fingal saw a rise of 10.8%.

“Outside Dublin, house prices were up by 14.8% and apartment prices by 17.5%. The region outside Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the Border at 23.4%, while at the other end of the scale the Mid-East and the Mid-West saw a 12.6% rise."

Households paid a median price of €276,000 for a residential property in the 12 months to November 2021. The lowest median price paid for a dwelling was €129,000 in Longford, while the highest was €590,00 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

In Association with

Meanwhile, project management consultancy Cogent Associates has called out shortcomings in the Large Scale Residential Development Bill, saying that although the legislation has been touted as a solution to planning delays it may instead lead to more applications being refused.

Cogent managing director Kevin James (pictured) stated: ““The focus of the LRD is on consultation at a local level and adherence to local development plans. In theory, this should reduce the number of LRD applications being referred for judicial review, which would fundamentally speed up the process and progress of developments.”

However, James believes that there are inadequate resources at local authority level to support the process, and that local government will need more staff or the process could become an obstacle to development.

“The success of the LRD bill is also very much dependent on the resourcing of local planning authorities. If not properly managed, this could potentially lead to an increase in applications being significantly delayed and/or refused," said James.

“An Bord Pleanála have also announced they intend to secure additional resources and increase staff numbers and the same has been promised for local authorities, with an emphasis on increasing the numbers of planning specialists.

“Unless these changes happen, the LRD process will suffer the same fate as the SHD. Although the argument for replacing SHD with LRD may not be entirely convincing, the priority now has to be speed and clarity in the planning process and better resourcing at a local level, if the annual housing targets are to be reached.”