2026 Goodbody Irish Homebuilder Survey
2026 Goodbody Irish Homebuilder Survey
Goodbody’s 2026 Irish Homebuilder Survey provides a timely snapshot of sentiment across the residential development sector, drawing insights from many of the industry’s most active homebuilders. Now in its second year, the survey explores expectations for new housing supply, views on recent policy reforms, and the key constraints facing the delivery of homes in Ireland. The findings offer valuable perspective on the near-term outlook for residential construction and the factors shaping sector confidence.
Homebuilder survey highlights short-term optimism on new supply
Our second annual Irish Homebuilder Survey collects responses from companies that accounted for about one third of market home completions in Ireland in 2025. The results suggest a more positive attitude to short-term output expectations for the sector. Recent government initiatives in relation to planning and the private rental sector are seen as positive developments, while the availability of zoned residential land is seen as the biggest single constraint to scaling output.
Positive view on growth in new supply in 2026 & 2027
A large majority of respondents to the survey expect supply (contracted sales) to increase for their firm in both 2026 and 2027. For this year, 72% of those surveyed expect an increase relative to 2025 levels. Amongst those expecting an increase in supply this year, the majority expect that increase to be more than 20%. Expectations for growth in supply in 2027 are even more positive, with all respondents expecting either an increase (86%) or to remain the same (14%) relative to 2026 levels. Again, the expected scale of increase varies, with one third expecting an increase of more than 30% and 25% expecting an increase of 0% – 10%.
Respondents positive on reforms of planning and the PRS sector
There have been numerous government initiatives to stimulate supply in recent years. For this year’s survey, we focused on two of the most important – planning and the Private Rented Sector (PRS). Responses to the survey indicate a generally favourable view to policy changes in these areas. Asked whether the reforms of the planning system are having a positive impact on building homes in Ireland, the vast majority indicated either a “significant improvement” (22%) or “some improvement” (64%). Asked whether policy reforms in relation to the rental market (rent control, VAT reduction, building standards for apartments) would have a positive impact on activating new supply, all respondents believed that it would, with the majority 71% expecting the impact to be significant.
Land availability cited as number one factor holding back new supply
The availability of residentially zoned land tops the list of issues constraining new housing supply in Ireland. This issue was cited as the second biggest issue in the 2025 version of the survey, but the top two positions have been swapped in this year’s survey, with planning issues now cited as the second biggest constraint.
Costs/viability is cited as the third most important factor, followed by services/utilities and finance. Staff availability and demand remain towards the bottom of concerns for Irish homebuilders. The results confirm the urgency of efforts to increase the amount of zoned and serviced land that is currently going through the Local Authorities under the Section 28 legislation.