The housing crisis in Ireland just got worse as a result of COVD 19 lockdown restrictions. Worrying figures from a recent Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA) survey report that tools have been downed on over 16,000 houses spread over 273 sites. With our quota for new houses already barely making any difference to the crisis, this is sure to make things much worse for years to come.
Currently COVID restrictions prevent work on all non-essential construction. The obvious exemption here is social housing, but we are still looking at a deficit of over 8,000 units – and that’s providing there are no more lockdowns after March 5th when things are meant to pick up again.
Skills
One other factor to keep in mind is the potential to slide into a skill shortage as a result of all of this. Many workers from abroad have already had to head home either to care for a relative or because they simply got let go due to their work drying up as a result of closures.
Also the potential for some construction workers to find work in other fields like tech as a result of the shifting workplace model – I’m sure when you’re used to getting up at 5am and grafting in the famous Irish weather all day, the thought of working from home in your pajamas can be quite tempting (www.linkedinlearning.com for anyone looking to make the jump – No affiliation). These workers may find success and not want to return to the construction site. At least not in the same capacity.
Investment
And finally there are the investors. Outside of social housing and some private projects that were nearly completed when lockdown began, investors have been taking a hit. Everyone likes a sure thing and right now giving a concrete deadline (excuse the pun) is risky business. We won’t know the full scale of the potential losses until later in the year when things have played out a bit more but right now big money is being cautious.
Kavco Group
As part of our commitment to deliver quality social housing, Kavco Group is working through these tough and uncertain times and keeping over 100 people employed. If you have any questions regarding a construction project, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
