New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that COVID-19 restrictions had a significant impact on house-building activity in the second quarter of this year.

The CSO said 3,290 new homes were completed in the three months to the end of June, a drop of almost a third from 4,829 in the first quarter. This was the first quarterly fall since 2013.

Pick-up in May

The number of houses being built in schemes slumped by 34.8% to 1,842, while new single houses were down 33.8% to 872. The fall was less marked for apartments, with the number down 16.3% to 576.

The CSO gave additional monthly details which showed how restrictions on construction at the height of the pandemic meant that only 420 new homes were completed in April. This was down 72.7% compared with the same month last year.

Activity picked up to 1,234 new homes built in May and increased further to 1,654 in June. The June figure, however, still represents a 5.9% annual fall.