The Bank of Ireland is to host a Housing webinar 'Supporting a Sustainable Housing Market' on Thursday 03 December.

The webinar will address Covid 19 impacts on housing delivery, along with innovation and sustainability in the housing sector. The webinar is designed to inform and prompt discussion among an audience of industry professionals including developers, house builders, agents and intermediaries. The panel will discuss a range of topics including demand & supply, mortgage momentum, sustainability, funding, building design and innovation.

Covid 19 impacts to the construction sector including site closures and the introduction of new regulations and procedures on site have resulted in disruption to the delivery of new homes in 2020. Forecasted delivery stands at approximately 20,000 versus a forecast of approximately 25,000 units at the beginning of this year. In the face of challenges, mutual co-operation between builders, developers, contractors and the professional teams has seen large numbers of projects progress with minimal disruption and cost impacts. This cross-sector collaboration has ensured a number of developments are back on track to deliver on the original pre-Covid 19 completion dates.

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Notwithstanding unprecedented challenges to delivery, house prices remained resilient and while sales continued throughout Q2 and Q3 at a slower rate than pre-Covid 19 forecasts, there has been steady improvement recorded. This positive outlook is supported by the Bank of Ireland Housing Pulse which ticked up to 64.8 in October 2020.

Michael Murray, Senior Director, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking said: "The challenges presented by Covid 19 have demonstrated in practice the agility of the industry. We have seen builders and contractors adapt quickly to new site regulations and procedures and developers have innovated by, for example, introducing work from home space options for purchasers. There has also been a notable pivot towards supplying product for the social housing and private rented sectors in greater numbers. At Bank of Ireland, we have worked closely with our customers throughout the crisis to keep working capital flowing and facilitate loan draw-downs. We are delighted to bring together a diverse group of panelists and stakeholders from across the sector for the Housing Webinar, as we move to the next phase of Covid 19 recovery and address innovation and sustainability in the housing sector for 2021 and beyond."