Limerick Housing Completions Fall Sharply as Other Irish Cities Climb
Limerick Chamber supports Mayor’s call for housing enquiry as housing commencements drop by almost half
Limerick Chamber has today raised serious concerns following the release of CSO data showing a 13% year-on-year decline in housing completions in Limerick, in stark contrast to strong growth across much of the country, prompting the Chamber to support the Mayor of Limerick’s call for an independent housing enquiry.
The figures show national housing completions increased by 20%, with Dublin up 26%, Galway up 20%, and Cork recording 5% growth. Limerick is the weakest-performing city in the State, with only Waterford also showing a decline, albeit a far more modest -2%.
As Ireland’s economy continues to expand and regional cities compete for investment, talent and skills, Limerick’s downward trend represents a growing structural risk.
Out of the 31 local authority areas, the Limerick City and County Council area ranked 28th, or fourth from the bottom, in terms of the percentage change in 2025 versus the previous year. It is unacceptable. Limerick was one of eight local authority areas to register a decline out of the 31 areas.
Adding further stress to the system, is the pipeline of homes coming online in 2026 and beyond, with the number of homes commencing in Limerick decreasing by 43% in 2025.
Sean Golden, Chief Economist and Director of Policy at Limerick Chamber, said:
“These figures are deeply alarming but continue to outline the long running trend of under delivery of housing in Limerick.
While other cities are accelerating housing delivery, Limerick is moving backwards. A 13% fall is not a blip it is a huge red flag. Without urgent and targeted action, Limerick will simply not be able to house its workforce, sustain inward investment, or meet the basic needs of a growing population.
One size fits all policy is clearly failing to boost housing supply in Limerick and there needs to be more targeted intervention from the state for both the direct build of housing and in policy support for the delivery of housing in Limerick.
Concerningly the pace at which direct state investment is being brought forward is not quick enough.
The Land Development Agency, who have a direct delivery pipeline of over 1,300 homes across Colbert Quarter, the Gasworks and Mungret, with almost over 450 of those receiving a positive planning permission grant, but to date none have been delivered. We do note the positive impact the LDA can have, having delivered 81 cost rental homes in Castletroy, but other developments need to be delivered much quicker and at a larger scale.
Similarly, Limerick City and County Council have a development company in Limerick Twenty Thirty DAC, that also have a pipeline of homes that need to be delivered much quicker and at a larger scale.
To put it into perspective, Limerick needs between 2,500 to 4,000 homes per year, in 2025 Limerick delivered just over 870, and the state do not have even a year’s supply in the pipeline currently to cover the lower end of this estimate.
Limerick has experienced strong population growth, record employment and increasing foreign direct investment in recent years. However, the failure to deliver sufficient housing now risks undermining those gains.
Mr Golden added:
“ The Mayor of Limerick has recently announced that he will be asking for cross-party collaboration to support an independent enquiry into housing delivery in Limerick, we welcome this approach, but it must be undertaken quickly as there is no time to waste.
Limerick Chamber has continually highlighted this issue through our research over the last several years, but we are seeing minimal or no progress, or in this instance we are actually going backwards. Businesses have been telling us for quite some time that housing availability is a critical constraint. If people cannot live here, companies will not locate here, and existing employers will struggle to expand and attract talent. The stark reality is that housing is now one of the single biggest threats to Limerick’s long-term competitiveness and social stability.”
