Last year saw lowest number of homes commenced in Louth since 2016

Construction began on 427 new homes in Louth in 2025, the lowest number of homes on which work began in Louth since 2016, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

For comparison, work commenced on 3,196 new homes in Louth in 2024, and 1,118 in 2023. It is even lower than the number on which work began during the Covid pandemic when work began on 811 homes in 2020 and 1002 in 2021 in Louth.

The departments monthly commencement data shows that work began on 12 new homes in Louth in December, down three on November, and also down from 653 in December 2024.

Three of the 12 units in December were one off units and nine were scheme units. With regards apartments, work began on just 13 units in Louth last year, five in November and eight in June. For comparison, work began on 850 apartments in Louth in 2024 and 392 in 2023.

Data from the department on apartments only goes back to 2021, but in those five years, 2025 saw the lowest number of apartments commenced in Louth.

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Nationally, work began on 3,065 new homes in December. While this is up from 1,533 in November, it is down significantly on the 10,723 on which construction began in December 2024.

Construction began on 16,412 homes in total across the State in 2025. This is down from 69,311 in 2024 and 32,801 in 2023. It should be noted however, that the 69,311 units in 2024 was driven in part by the approaching end of development levy waivers leading to a late surge in activity for that year.

The 2025 figure is however, the lowest number of homes commenced in any year since 2016, when work began on 13,234 units across the State. It is also lower than during the Covid pandemic when 21,686 were commenced in 2020 and 30,724 in 2021.

Of all the homes commenced in December, 42%  or 1,278 units were in the four Dublin local authorities. By Local Authority, the most units commenced were in Cork City, with 560 units, followed by South Dublin with 509 units, and Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown with 316 units. There were just two units commenced in Carlow County, Leitrim County, Longford County and Roscommon County.

Of all the homes commenced throughout 2025 as a whole, 31% (5,074 units) were in the four Dublin local authorities. By Local Authority, the highest number of commencements were in Dublin City (2,304 units) followed by Cork City (1,501 units) and Fingal (1,328 units). The lowest number of homes commenced were in Leitrim (52 uints).