Housing crisis: Building ban and savings to send house prices soaring

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has warned that Covid restrictions on building will lead to a 25% collapse in new housing construction this year. 

With would-be buyers chasing fewer homes, tougher Central Bank rules may be needed to curb runaway prices, warned Kieran McQuinn, an associate research professor at the ESRI.  

Fewer new planning applications, and a big drop in new site commencements, mean a worsening housing crisis will be one of the lasting effects of the pandemic, he said. 

An original estimate for 26,000 housing completions this year has been cut to just 15,000.

Read full article: Independent.ie