Official figures show that the number of new homes built last year was down only slightly compared with 2020, after a surge in the final three months of the year.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that 20,433 new homes were completed last year – down just 0.5% from 2020.

It pointed out that the beginning of 2021 was marked by further COVID-19 restrictions that affected much of the construction industry.

The number of apartments built last year jumped by more than 30% to 5,107. The CSO said that apartments accounted for a quarter of all completions last year – the highest proportion since it began compiling the figures in 2011.

Small rise in Dublin

There were 1,782 apartments completed in Dublin city in 2021, and more than half of these were finished in the final quarter of the year.

The number of houses built as part of schemes last year dropped by 8.7%, however, while single dwellings were down 5.3%.

Just over 30% of all homes completed last year were in Dublin. The Dublin region, the Midlands, the Mid-West, and the South-East all recorded small increases in completions from 2020 to 2021.