Official figures show that planning permissions bounced back in the third quarter of this year after a slump in the previous quarter when COVID-19 restrictions affected activity.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said permissions for 12,942 houses and apartments were granted in the three months to the end of September, up more than 22% compared with a year earlier. The figure was almost double the 6,807 permissions recorded in the April-June period this year.

Apartments forge ahead

Apartment permissions were up 27.5% from a year earlier to 7,214, while permissions for houses rose by 16% to 5,728.

Figures for apartments had shown a dramatic increase in the first quarter of this year, before the impact of pandemic restrictions.

Permissions granted for apartments began to outstrip houses for the first time in the third quarter of 2019, and this trend has continued, with apartments accounting for between 55% and 66% of total new homes granted permission in the first nine months of this year.

SHD applications

The CSO says more than 80% of apartment units granted planning permission so far this year were linked to applications under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process.

Applications for developments of at least 100 residential units or 200-plus student bed spaces can be made directly to An Bord Pleanála under SHD, which is aimed at speeding up the delivery of new housing supply.

Almost half of the multi-development housing units given planning permission also came under SHD.