COMMENCEMENT NOTICES WERE lodged for just 723 homes in March across Ireland, a slowdown on previous months and the lowest number in four years. 

The figure shows that nearly 300 fewer homes were at the start of the building process than in February, according to figures provided by the Department of Housing.  

The figure from March 2025 was the lowest number of homes which had notices lodged since February 2021 when only 522 homes were commenced.

In February of this year, 1,017 homes were commenced, and in January 1,178 were at this stage. 

In March last year, 4,909 houses were commenced, which is more than six times as many homes as this year. 

Despite the lower figures from last month, there was some more positive news for those watching government targets. On a rolling 12-month basis, from April 2024 to March 2025, 59,989 homes commenced. This is up 60% from the previous 12 months, where there were 37,441 homes commenced.

Of local authorities, Dublin City has commenced the most units this year with 937, followed by Meath with 245 and Kildare with 228. 

Rolling 12-month commencements (April - March) from 2015-2025 Department of Housing Department of Housing

However, commencement notice figures do not necessarily reflect the number of sites where construction has physically begun.

A commencement notice is a notification to a building control authority that a person intends to carry out construction work on a site that has been granted planning permission. Notices are required for new builds or material changes of use to a building.

Housing experts have pointed to a number of weaknesses in using commencement notices as an indicator of construction activity.

The Journal has also previously fact checked commencement figures and found that the figures can reference a filing a notice to build a housing development or apartment block and may not actually indicate active construction.