New figures have revealed an increase in the number of projects granted planning permission during the first six months of 2018.

Research by Construction Information Services (CIS) Ireland shows an 6% rise in the volume of projects granted planning, with residential the best performing sector with a 20% increase (476 multi-unit applications approved up from 398 last year).

CIS Ireland stated: "The largest sector by volume is Agriculture with almost 800 projects granted, an increase of 13% on H1 2017. Only two sectors have fallen in volume terms but the decline is minimal in both the Community & Sport and Commercial & Retail sectors.

"On a regional basis, all areas have experienced an increase in volumes apart from Dublin down 11% and Ulster ROI down 3%.

"The outlook from our analysis is more positive when we look at data in monetary terms as there has been an increase of 34%, with over €5.25 billion in projects granted planning in the first half of 2018, up from €3.8 billion in H1 2017. Every region is in positive territory when we look at the data in value terms. Munster is up 83% with three projects worth over €150 million each on the horizon."

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However, the overall volume of projects submitted for planning during the first half of 2018 has fallen by 1% when compared with the same period last year.

CIS Ireland stated: "In a turnaround of sorts, most sectors have experienced negative growth rates with the exception of Residential, Industrial and Agriculture. The worst performing sector is Community & Sport which is down 29% on the same period last year. Medical & Care Residential is also down 255 projects on H1 2017. The best performing sectors are Agriculture and Residential which are up 13% and 12% respectively."

Regionally, only Leinster and Munster have grown in volume terms, up 12% respectively, while all other regions have declined.

Nevertheless, the value of projects submitted for planning has increased by 1%, with over €5.6 billion worth of projects submitted for planning in the first six months of 2018, up from just over €5.5bn in the first half of 2017.

"Residential has almost €2.5 billion in projects submitted for planning in the period under review," CIS Ireland said.

"On a regional basis almost all regions have shown strong growth with the exception of Munster which was down 32%."

(LM/MH)