This article is from page 4 of the 2013-10-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE construction industry in Clare may finally be on the road to recovery, but only just. New figures for commencements in the county reveal a year-on-year decrease of just 0.66 per cent for the year until the end of August.
While the number of commencements continues to decline in the county – Clare recorded the lowest percentage decline of any county in Munster and was well below the national average decline, which was just over 10 per cent – hopes are now high that a slight increase in the number of commencements for the final quarter of 2013 could see the Banner country record a yearly increase in building commencements. If this takes place, this would be the first increase in building commencements in Clare since the recession started in 2007.
While the number of planning application continue to fall in Clare, this may not indicate a slowdown in the real activity of the construction industry. Commencement orders are considered a much more accurate way of gauging construction activity, as it is a measure of actual builds rather than possible builds.
In total, work began on 150 properties in Clare between January 1 and August 31 f this year. This is down slightly on the 151 properties for the same period of 2012.
The combined number of planning permissions being made to Clare County Council, Ennis Town and Kilrush Town Councils fell by 15 per cent so far this year. This also represents a slowdown in the rate of decrease, as the number of planning application fell by a massive 32 per cent for the first eight months of 2012.
Only five counties Dublin, Roscommon, Meath, Longford and Wexford recorded an increase in commencements, with Clare the sixth best performing county in Ireland.
While the trend in Clare is still towards fewer houses being built year-on-year, it looks likely that the construction industry in Clare may be about to turn the corner.