This article is from page 15 of the 2012-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
THERE were 200 per cent more houses and commercial units added to the Clare building stock during the first six months of this year, when compared to the same period in 2011.
As many as 327 new residential and commercial buildings were recorded in Clare for the first six months of 2012, according to new figures released by GeoDirectory.
GeoDirectory was jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) to create and manage Ireland’s only complete database of commercial and residential buildings.
The figures represent a year-onyear increase of 200 per cent compared to the same period in 2011 when 109 new buildings were added in the county.
The increase in new building additions in Clare in the first half of 2012 is in contrast to the 23 per cent fall recorded nationally.
The 327 new buildings identi fied in Clare were composed of 295 residential buildings, 29 commercial buildings and the were dual-purpose buildings with both residential and commercial elements. These new additions bring the total number of buildings in Clare to 57, 521.
Of these new buildings 11 per cent remain unoccupied in County Clare compared to 12 per cent nationally.
Across the country, GeoDirectory recorded 5,620 new buildings, consisting of 4,837 residential buildings, 590 commercial buildings and 193 dual-purpose buildings with both residential and commercial compo- nents. The new additions for the first six months of 2012 bring the total number of new buildings in the Republic of Ireland to 1,889,143.
Clare was one of just seven counties to buck the national trend by experiencing an increase in new building additions compared to the same period in 2011.
Commenting on the figures, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory, said, “Current figures for new additions represent a 94 per cent decrease from the peak in 2007, when GeoDirectory identified 60,781 new commercial and residential buildings across the country.
The new figures have identified a vacancy rate nationally of 12 per cent for new building additions, which in effect would mean that 9 out of 10 new commercial and residential buildings are occupied.