Surge in planning permissions for apartments
Official figures show that there was a huge increase in planning permissions granted for new apartments during the first three months of the year.
The Central Statistics Office figures cover the period to the end of March, so the full effect of pandemic restrictions may not be seen until the second quarter numbers are released.
Dublin
The first-quarter figures show that planning permission for a total of 14,789 homes was granted, almost double the figure for the same period last year.
9,698 of these were for apartments, a jump of more than 274% from a year earlier, when just 2,592 apartments were given the go-ahead. 82.7% of these apartments are planned for the Dublin area.
Permissions for houses were up by a more modest 3.9% to 5,091.