Record number of houses granted planning permission during pandemic in Kilkenny

The appetite for new homes in Kilkenny remains remarkably high, despite being in the midst of a global pandemic.

In fact new figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal more homes applications were approved in the last 12 months than any period previously since the data was recorded.

In the 12 months up to the end of March 2021, Kilkenny County Council approved planning permission for a total of 543 houses or apartments in the city and county.

For the 12 months from March 2019 to March 2020, prior to the pandemic hitting, the local authority approved just 492 builds.

March 2018 to March 2019 saw 531 builds approved by the council.

Nationally, the number of planning permissions granted for new dwellings increased by 13.1% which the CSO said: “Was largely due to the decline in the number of Strategic Housing Development (SHD) dwelling units approved, with SHD apartment units down 62.0% and SHD housing units down 92.5%.”