Sharp fall in housing commencement in Cork city

Monthly housing commencement data, released last week by the department of housing, shows that just five homes commenced building in Cork city in July of this year, with the city’s monthly average currently ten times lower than last year’s.

Cork city’s commencements were a decrease from 21 in July 2021, and the lowest July commencement levels since 2018.

Some 269 homes commenced in Cork city so far this year, with the majority of these commencements being in April. 

There were 20 commencements in January, 10 in February, one in March, 186 in April, 28 in May, 19 in June and 5 in July, or a monthly average of 38.

Last year, a total of 4,584 homes were commenced by year’s end, a monthly average of 382, ten times higher than this year’s monthly average, suggesting the amount of homes begun this year will be a significant drop from last year’s figures unless commencement figures ramp up shortly from August to December.

Some 185 of the 186 homes commenced in Cork city in April were units from a housing scheme, with a further four scheme units commencing in January, eight in February and the sole five units commenced across the city in July – a total of 202 scheme units have commenced across Cork this year.

58 of the commencements in the city this year so far have been apartment units, meaning individual apartments rather than an apartment block; 16 in January, 24 in May and 18 in June.

Nine one off homes have commenced in Cork city this year; one off two in February, four in May and one each in March, April and June.

In contrast, Cork county saw more positive figures, with 113 homes commencing last month, and over the course of the year has seen more than double the commencement notices of the city.

So far this year, 628 homes have commenced in Cork County; 31 in January, 63 in February, 56 in March, 50 in April, 244 in May, 71 in June and 113 in July.

COUNTY

Cork county, by contrast to the city where the majority of commencements were scheme houses, has seen just 28 scheme unit commencements, 12 in April and 16 in May. The county has also seen just four apartment units commence, all in March.

The majority of commencements in the county have been one off houses, with 265 begun so far, more than any other local authority area in Ireland. 15 of these houses commenced in January, 25 in February, 42 in March, 50 in April, 45 in May, 39 in June and 49 in July.

However, while not as far behind as Cork city, Cork county is still below last year’s monthly commencement average, with 90 homes completed a month on average in 2025 compared to 356 a month in 2024.