Kildare Records Fastest Growing Housing Stock In The Country - CSO

Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:34

By Caoimhe Harney

The increase in the housing stock was mainly driven by new dwelling completions

Kildare and Meath recorded the fastest growing housing stocks in the country between 2016 and 2022, according to the latest CSO figures.

The housing stock increased in all counties between 2016 and 2022. The largest increases were in the east of Ireland, primarily around Dublin.

Growth of the housing stock was slowest in Tipperary, up 2% in six years.

In counties such as Tipperary, Donegal and Leitrim, the number of occupied dwellings increased at more than twice the rate of the housing stock.

In counties Kildare and Meath the population grew at a similar rate to that of the housing stock.

The increase in the housing stock was mainly driven by new dwelling completions in these areas.

In some counties, the population was growing at a much faster rate than the housing stock and the number of vacant dwellings was declining as the occupied housing stock increased.

For example, in Leitrim, the housing stock grew by less than 3%, but the population increased by almost 10% and the number of vacant dwellings fell by over 20%.

The total stock of habitable permanent housing in Census 2022 was 2,112,121, over 5% higher than in Census 2016.

The number of occupied households increased by 8% to 1.85 million while the number of vacant dwellings fell by nearly 20,000 (-11%) to 163,433.

Between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, the number of dwellings that were temporarily unoccupied on Census Night as the residents were away from home fell by over 30% to just under 35,000.

The number of holiday homes that were not occupied on Census Night rose by 8% from 62,148 to 66,956.