Some 38 new housing units were commenced in the first four months of 2012 in Westmeath, according to new statistics released by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF ). This represents a decrease of four units or 10 per cent on the same period during 2011, when work began on 42 new units, according to the CIF’s latest Housing Statistics Bulletin.
Of the new units commenced all 38 were single units, representing 100 per cent of the total activity.
For the 12 month period up to the end of April of this year, 103 housing units were commenced in Westmeath. This compares with 149 commenced in the twelve months up to April 2011, a year on year decrease of 46 units or 31 per cent.
There was also a decrease in the level of house completions in Westmeath during the first five months of 2012. Between January and May of this year 65 housing units were completed. This compares with 90 during the same period in 2011, a decrease of 25 units or 28 per cent.
Nationally the level of new house completions is down for the first five months with 3,283 housing units completed compared to 4,442 during the January to May period for 2011 - a drop of 1,160 units or 26 per cent.
There has also been a sharp decrease in the number of houses commenced nationally with the statistics revealing a drop of 31 per cent as 1,212 new housing units were commenced between January and April compared to 1,751 for the same time frame in 2011.
A total of 10,480 housing units were completed during 2011. The CIF has predicted that between 7,500 - 8,000 units will be completed during 2012.
