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Huge revenue losses through housing slump THE IRISH
Government is set to lose more than ?1billion in revenues after figures
revealed a dramatic slump in new housing starts.
Work has started on a mere 44,500 houses so far this year compared with
94,500 this time last year.
Stockbrokers Davy said it expected stamp duties to fall about ?700million
below target and VAT revenue to drop ?500million.
Davy also said it was cutting its housing forecasts yet again due to the
low rate of housing starts and a poor forecast for the next few months
from the industry.
The broker expects 55,000 completions next year — a drop of 10,000
on its predictions in June and down 20,000 from the 75,000 it expects
this year.
It is also forecasting that the growth in construction employment could
slow to about 3 per cent or 3.5 per cent this year and fall to as low
as 1 per cent next year if the housing market continues to decline.
But the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) was quick to dismiss any
significant loss of jobs from the slowdown in residential construction
saying workers will just move into other sectors.
A spokesman said: “Lots of sectors are booming at the moment and
there are plenty of schools, offices and hospitals that still need to
be built as well as work in the repair, maintenance and improvement sectors.
“This drop in housing registrations does not come as a surprise
to us as it is an area that has been decreasing for the past few months.” |
