Number of apartment commencements in Cork far outweighs those completed in past 12 months 

Official housing statistics suggest that Cork city will soon see significant amounts of apartments available to buy, rent, or occupy through social housing schemes, but historic data paints a less optimistic picture.

The number of apartments that are currently under construction far outweighs the number of apartments that were actually completed in the past 12 months, according to CSO data, with construction commencing on more than three times as many apartments in Cork city as were completed in the second half of 2025 and during the first half of 2026.

Last year, a total of 1,679 apartments were granted planning permission in Cork city. However, just 58 were granted permission in the first three months of this year, according to the latest data available.

This is down significantly from the 415 granted permission in the first three months of 2025.

There were 429 apartments completed in Cork in the 12-month period to the end of June this year, with 126 in the second quarter of 2026 — a significant increase from 40 completed during the same period last year.

Nationally, 12,256 apartments were completed in Ireland during the period, with just 3.5% of these being in Cork city.

Commencement notices issued for more than 1,300 apartments 

Commencements are far more positive.

In the same 12-month period, commencement notices were issued for 1,374 apartments in Cork city, with apartments making up 72% of the total homes that began construction.

Nationally, apartments accounted for just 39% of commencement notices from the end of June 2025 to 2026, and 14% of all apartments that commenced in Ireland were in Cork city.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said, when launching new planning rules for apartments last year, that fulfilling National Planning Framework commitments to plan for 50,000 additional households per annum to 2040, “will require a substantial increase in housing output of all types, and in particular the delivery of apartments at central and accessible urban locations”.

They said: “Viability presents an ongoing challenge to housing delivery. This is particularly relevant for the delivery of apartments, where a considerable gap has emerged between the cost of delivering apartment development and comparable general housing market prices.”

This difficulty in delivering apartments can be seen in the CSO figures from the last five years, where there is a significant gap between the amount of apartment units granted planning permission compared to those actually delivered.

From Q1 2021 to Q1 2026, a total of 7,367 apartment units were granted planning permission in Cork city, while 3,431 houses were granted planning permission.

In the same time period, just 1,354 apartment units were completed, and 4,742 houses, meaning that apartment units were twice as likely to be granted planning permission than houses, but houses were more than three times more likely to be built.

In 2024, 731 apartment units and 733 houses were granted planning permission in Cork city, while 313 and 906 were finished.

Last year, 1,679 apartment units and 1,000 houses were granted planning permission, while 279 and 1,219 were finished.

While apartment completions decreased slightly last year compared to the year before, planning permissions more than doubled, suggesting a stronger future pipeline of apartment development if approved schemes proceed to construction.

However, ‘if’ is the key word — over the full five-year period, apartment units were more than five times as likely to receive planning permission as to be completed, underlining a persistent gap between approvals and delivery.