Alarming fall in number of houses granted planning in Louth

Last year saw a significant fall in the number of houses granted planning permission in Louth, with the second half of 2024 seeing a 60% drop in the number of houses granted planning permission in the county, compared to the second half of 2023, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office.

Planning permission was granted for 280 houses in the second half of 2024, down from 709 in the second half of 2023, representing a fall of 60.5% Looking at 2024 as a whole, planning permission was granted for 997 houses in 2024, compared to 1,115 in 2023, representing a fall of 10.6%

Looking at the final quarter (Q4) of 2024, planning permission was granted for 186 houses in Louth, up from 94 in the third quarter (Q3). but down from 329 in Q4 of 2023. Of the 186 houses granted planning permission in Q4, 172 were multi development houses and 14 were one off houses. In total last year, planning permission was granted for 72 one off houses in Louth, down from 82 in 2023. 

Planning was also granted for 935 apartments in Louth last year, up from 591 in 2023 and representing an increase of 58.2%. The huge increase in the number of apartments granted planning permission last year was mainly seen in the second quarter (Q2) when planning was granted for 456 apartments. Planning was granted for 252 apartments in Q4 of last year, up slightly from 234 in Q4 of 2023.

Nationally, there was an annual decrease of more than 21% in the total number of dwelling units approved in 2024 to 32,401, down from 41,225 units in 2023. This compares with an annual increase of 20.6% in 2023. In 2024, the number of apartments granted planning permission fell by almost 39% when compared with 2023, while house approvals were down by 2.7%.

There was an annual fall of 2.8% in the number of multi-development houses receiving planning permission in 2024, compared with a decline of 2.5% in one-off houses. In Q4 2024, the total number of dwelling units approved planning permission was down by 38% to 6,890 units compared with 11,181 units in Q4 2023. Planning permissions granted for apartment units fell by 52% in Q4 2024 compared with Q4 2023, while house permissions granted during the same period dropped by 21%.

Between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, an annual decline of 8% was recorded in the number of planning permissions granted for all developments, with 5,878 permissions approved in Q4 2024 compared with 6,399 in Q4 2023.