[Article] Census confirms drift towards apartments

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2004/0422/housing.html

Census confirms drift towards apartments
April 22, 2004 11:41

Census 2002 figures from the Central Statistics Office show the extent of the growth in house building in counties around Dublin in recent years.

In a special section on housing, the CSO says that a quarter of all housing in Kildare and Meath was built in the six-year period between 1996 and 2002.

In Sallins, Co Kildare and Ratoath, Co Meath, 70% of all dwellings were built in this period.

The figures also show a trend towards apartment living. The census found that there were 110,000 flats or apartments in 2002, which accounted for 8.6% of all dwelling types. This was up from 6.5% in 1991. A third of these apartments have been built since 1991.

Dublin City had the highest proportion of apartments at 29%, while South Dublin had the lowest with 2.6%.

The figures show that the number of rented dwellings almost doubled between 1991 and 2002, reversing declines over the previous 30 years, but the number of houses rented from local authorities has fallen to 88,000 just under 7% of the total.

Owner occupied dwellings rose to just under one million, representing just over 77% of all housing.

Average weekly rents for private rented accommodation varied from nearly €250 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown to less than €100 in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal.

The CSO figures show that the urban population has grown at an average of 1.5% a year since 1961, but the number of private households has grown by 2.4% a year.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/3064828?view=Eircomnet

Commuters pushed to the limits as high prices bite
From:The Irish Independent
Friday, 23rd April, 2004

THE dramatic seachange in how and where we live is graphically outlined in a major new report today.

It shows how the great economic changes - and soaring prices - of the past decade have impacted dramatically on hundreds of thousands.

An official Central Statistics Office (CSO) census report shows how Dublin's commuter tentacles have spread relentlessly into neighbouring counties under enormous pressure from soaring house and commodity prices.

Little clusters of houses that were close-knit villages ten years ago are now swarming commuter belts.

The report says the urban sprawl in these commuter counties around Dublin - most notably Kildare and Meath - is spreading out of control.

That is directly as a result of a booming population . . . and the need for more affordable housing further away from the capital.

High house prices have also doubled the number of people forced to rent homes.

The report shows that one-in-nine houses and apartments is now rented out privately.

The statistical snapshot highlights:

* Apartment living has shot up from 6.5pc of dwellings nationwide to almost 9pc in the past ten years.

* A quarter of the entire housing stock in the commuter counties of Kildare and Meath was built since 1996.

* More than 70pc of all the houses in the villages of Sallins in Kildare and Ratoath in Meath were built during the six years between 1996-2002. Their populations quadrupled as a result.

* The amount of private rented accommodation almost doubled between 1996 and 2002, fuelled by rocketing house prices. One-in-nine dwellings is now rented privately.

* The Dun Laoghaire Rathdown area in south Dublin is the most expensive in the country in which to rent - the average for a furnished property is €250 a week.

* Donegal is the cheapest county to rent, averaging just €96-a-week.

* Almost half the families in the country has a personal computer or internet access.

More than a quarter of houses in Galway city, Carrick-on-Shannon and Skibbereen lives in privated rented houses - only 2.6pc of people in Portmarnock are renting.

The number of private rented dwellings increased from 71,000 in 1991 to 141,000 in 2002, reversing declines observed in the previous 30 years.

The one-off housing explosion now accounts for one-third of all houses being built, creating 400,000 septic tanks, many of them polluting water supplies.

Of the 1,280,000 dwellings in the state, 400,000 are in rural areas.

This often means they have to rely on septic tanks which are frequently linked to water contamination.

And 15pc of the current 1.28m houses and apartments nationwide were built in the seven-year housing boom period 1996-2002.

The report shows the number of new households being created is outstripping population growth.

This means that we have far more houses, many with just one occupant.

The report also shows that urban population is growing by 1.5pc a year.

Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent