Mayo housing crisis deepens as building commencements drop to 2016 levels
There have been just 103 commencement notices issued so far this year for new homes in County Mayo, marking the lowest level of commencements between January and June since 2016.
At the same time last year, the figure stood at 289, according to data from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
A commencement notice is a formal notification submitted to a local building control authority before construction begins or a material change is made to a building’s use.
In the first half of 2016 there were 99 housing commencements in the county. Interestingly during 2020 and 2021, where the national lockdowns were having a huge effect on construction, there were 152 and 199 respectively.
Mayo TD Paul Lawless called the figures “shocking” and said the Government’s housing strategy is failing western counties like Mayo.
“It represents the lowest level of building commencement notices in Mayo in almost a decade. The last time we saw numbers this low was back in 2016. Despite countless promises, announcements and record-breaking spending claims, we’re essentially right back where we started. The government’s rhetoric on housing may have shifted, but their delivery is going in reverse.
“It’s deeply disheartening to see Mayo’s housing starts back at 2016 levels, a time when we were only beginning to recover from recession. Nearly a decade on, we now have a larger population and a wealthier economy, yet we’re delivering at post-recession rates.”
Nationally, there were 1,356 commencement notices filed in June, bringing the total figure for the year to 6,325, compared to 15,561 notices at the same time in 2023.
June 2024 saw a significant yet temporary rise in this figure to 34,581 notices. However this was driven by a government waiver on water connection charges and development levies. An initiative that aimed to stimulate housing construction and reduce costs for developers.
Housing shortages remain a nationwide issue, but the west of Ireland continues to fall behind. In 2025, 31.5pc of commencement notices lodged were within Dublin’s four local authorities. In comparison to the western counties, just 1.6pc were submitted in Mayo, 0.92pc in Roscommon, 0.12pc in Galway City and 4pc in Galway County.
Building on this, statistics released by the Central Statistics Office last week showed that the west had the lowest number of new dwelling completions in the second quarter of 2025. 448 homes were built across Mayo, Roscommon, Galway County and Galway City, a 16% decline from the same quarter in 2024. Nationwide, 9,214 houses were completed during the same time period, with 87% of these in urban areas. Urban areas saw a 40pc increase in building works compared to the second quarter in 2024, while rural areas only saw an 11pc increase.
The data highlights a significant slowdown, not only in housing commencements in county Mayo, but in completed building works across the west of Ireland. In Mayo there have also been shortfalls in the delivery of social housing, in 2024 the delivery target was missed by 23pc. These statistics are not predicted to improve either, with the Minister for Housing James Browne admitting that the government's aim of 41,000 completed houses this year is “not realistic”.
This report has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.