Two new reports released this week show that construction in the county continued to fall in the first half of this year. The Construction Industry Federation released a report that has shown there has been a 21 per cent decrease in the number of commencements of housing units in the first four months of the year in Mayo. According to the report, 70 new housing units were commenced in Mayo in the months from January to the end of April. At the same stage in 2011, there were 89 commencements on housing units in the county. Out of the 20 new commencements, 66 were on single one off housing units according to the figures.
The Construction Industry Federation said there had also been a drop in the number of house completions in Mayo in the first five months of the year. According to the figures, in the months from the start of January to the end of May this year, there were 109 housing units completed in Mayo which is down from 143 for the same time last year. That decrease in 34 completions, represents a 24 per cent fall on the figures for the same time last year.
The number of planning applications has also fallen in Mayo in the first six months of the year, according to new figures released this week. The latest National Housing Construction Index which is complied by Link2Plans shows that planning applications and commencement notices continue to fall in Mayo. The National Housing Construction Index figures have shown that from the start of January to the end of June in Mayo, there were 177 planning applications lodged with the local authorities in the county. For the same time period last year there were 257 planning applications lodged with the local councils, 31 per cent more than for the same time this year.
