The Claire Byrne Show
Ireland is significantly under delivering in the one-off housing sector
25 May 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. Now, we move on to failure to reform rural housing policy in Ireland will accelerate rural depopulation, increase pressure on urban housing and drive further increases in house prices and rents. Well, that is the warning today from the Hardware Association, Ireland's new report.
And their chief executive officer, Martin Markey, joins me in the studio now. Good morning to you, Martin. Good morning, Clare. So you're concerned in the Hardware Association about one-off housing, how difficult it is for people to build. So you must be heartened now by the noise we're hearing from government in relation to all of this.
Chapter 2: What is the warning regarding rural housing policy in Ireland?
Well, we like what we're hearing, Clare. I suppose we will follow up on it and let's hope that it does come to pass. Because I suppose when we're looking at rural housing, one-off housing as it's also known as, if you go back to 2006, we built 23,000. And last year we built less than 6,000 and it's been kind of bumping along at the 5,000, 6,000 for the last 10 years, I suppose.
It's about just over 16% of the total.
Yes. Now, if it hadn't kept pace with population growth since 2006, we'd now be building 33,000 one-off rural houses.
But you know what happens when we have a storm and we have, you know, our electricity is down. We hear the reason why it's taking so long to get people back up and running again is because we have such a complex network across the country because of the one-off houses. And that's always an argument against it.
That and the cost of that infrastructure, which drives electricity, costs up for all of us.
Well, if you look at, for example, one-off houses at the moment in 2026, effectively a new-built house is the best-built house in history. Likewise, from an environmentally viewpoint, it's the most environmentally friendly house in history. So I don't know if that argument stacks up. I think it's a little bit past its sell-by date at this point, as well as that.
For example, if you look at the societal changes since even before COVID, before COVID we had about one third of a million people working from home. Now it's nearly a million people working from home. And likewise, if we're looking at transport, if we're looking at cars, last year newly bought cars, 56% were either fully electric or hybrids.
So many of those arguments in terms of environmentally friendliness have kind of gone by the wayside.
And can you explain to me what is your organisation's interest in this, in putting forward this argument, the Hardware Association of Ireland?
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Chapter 3: How has one-off housing construction changed over the years?
This will make it even worse. Build up the towns and the cities. And this listener says that one-off housing is no good on any metric. What do you say to that argument?
Well, building up the towns and cities, absolutely agree with that. But we're in such a housing crisis at the moment. So, for example, if you look at the Housing Commission, The report that they brought out a year and a half ago said that we were short housing units of about a quarter of a million. So that's a quarter of a million of our fellow citizens don't have houses at the moment.
And if we look at the figures for people under 44 owning, that has plummeted since 2011. Likewise, the number of working adults living at home with their parents has spiraled to an all-time high. Yeah.
But a lot of those people won't own land and you need to own land to build on it in rural Ireland.
Well, some of them will own land and those that do own land or could potentially own land are being stymied by a regulation in housing at the moment called the Local Housing Need or the Housing Need Regulation. And that's preventing probably thousands of homes being built at the moment.
But you would still need to have a connection to the local area under what is proposed to go to Cabinet next month, right? Do you support that?
Up to a point. Up to a point. It depends how it's enforced and how local that need is, shall we say. Because I think the last time I looked, we lived in a republic. So, you know, should people have the right to build a house in any part of the country? I would say yes. Why not? That's how we live.
So... Modern rural homes, according to your report, are more sustainable than ever, but they will still need the services and the infrastructure, won't they, to be livable entities?
Absolutely, as do any urban houses or apartments. We all need infrastructure.
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Chapter 4: What are the environmental benefits of modern one-off houses?
Well, it's going to cabinet next week. Then how do you guard against people building holiday homes as a one-off house in rural Ireland, or do you have a concern in that regard?
Well, I suppose in terms of building materials, we're kind of agnostic on that with the hardware associations. So whether people are buying the building materials to build their own house or a holiday home, we're kind of agnostic on that. But I suppose in terms of public policy.
But I mean, you said you were very concerned about the housing problem, but you're not concerned about vacant houses around the country being built for people who can afford to have two homes.
Well, I suppose in terms of housing policy, in terms of public policy, what they could do is put in a proviso whereby it can't be used as a holiday home for certainly a period of time.
One-off housing is in demand because urban living outside of the most affluent areas of towns and cities is such a failure. Opponents should focus on addressing all of the failures in urban living, crime and grime and antisocial behaviour. That's an argument, I think, for another day. These are listener comments that I'm bringing you now.
Norway, with a population similar to here, with a slightly larger area, have one-off houses everywhere, even in places where you would never expect to see a property. And another one says, restrict foreign investment. How many holiday homes are... Are there another on the empty homes above shops? What about the empty promises in that regard? Well, that's coming.
The grant structure is coming and these should all be made available for housing. Do you see that there will be a big demand for those properties over shops in towns around the country?
We would say there'd be a massive demand for above the shop rejuvenation. We estimate, I think, about five, six thousand per annum. If you do a count in nearly every town and village in the country, there's a huge cohort of empty and hardly used above the shop space. So again, there's huge potential in that.
Thank you very much for coming in. And the Hardware Association of Ireland CEO, Martin Markey there. And if you've anything to say about that, do get in touch on WhatsApp 087 1400 106. Back after this. The Clare Byrne Show. With Aviva Insurance. Weekday mornings at 9. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
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