An easing of COVID-19 restrictions led to a recovery in home-building activity in the second quarter of 2021, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The bounce was led by apartments, which accounted for more than a quarter of all homes built for the first time since the CSO began collecting the data in 2011.

The CSO said that just over 5,000 new homes were built in the three-month period – up 55.5% from the same period last year when initial pandemic restrictions were in place.

The statistics body pointed out, however, that completions were still 4.6% higher compared with the same period in 2019.

Apartment completions double

There were 1,333 apartment completions in the second quarter of 2021 – more than double the number of apartments completed in the corresponding periods in both 2020 and 2019. More than two-thirds of all apartments completed were in Dublin.

Just over half of the homes completed were in housing schemes, while just over one-fifth were single dwellings.

The CSO has, for the first time, given a breakdown of home-building by electoral area. This shows that Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart in Dublin had the highest number of new homes built during the second quarter (185).