Altrad Generation’s Ireland Director Graham Henderson asks – how does Irish construction rise to the challenge of building 60,000 homes a year?

The call has been made for the Irish construction industry to build 60,000 homes a year to ensure sufficient housing for the country. All that remains is to identify how the figure can be achieved. There are some grounds for optimism; Ireland has the fastest rate of new housing growth, measured on a per population basis in Europe. EY Ireland and the Euroconstruct network forecast 36,000 homes to be completed this year, with 41,000 in 2025, though forecasts suggest that completions will decline in 2026. To consistently achieve the target set, Irish construction needs to increase its current supply by 50% a year. For Irish construction to rise to the challenge, we will require structural change.

The need for long term and stable regulatory and policy frameworks
In addition to setting the 60,000 target, politicians and regulators need to develop the necessary policy and regulatory frameworks for success. They are at the heart of the solution, both in terms of streamlining planning, effective building regulation and channelling investment. The removal of the levy waiver demonstrates the impact of policy on housing supply, both positive and negative. The ‘correct’ policy needs private and public sector collaboration within a long term stable regulatory environment.

The construction industry generates relatively small margins relative to its high upfront capital requirements. It is also subject to external shocks it has no control over, highlighted by the financial crash, Covid and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic. This makes longer-term investment to increase housing supply by 50% annually unlikely unless there is the necessary visibility of how we provide more capital investment, space to build, training support for the workforce and guarantees around the stability of the regulatory environment. This would help address the key challenges raised in the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) 2024 Outlook Survey. These were access to skilled labour, securing a healthy profit margin, increased cost of materials and continuity of work.

Dealing with the construction industry’s key challenges
Despite the need for more investment, we also need to recognise the need for new approaches. Without them, we will not address our rapidly ageing workforce as school leavers reject careers in construction for what they perceive as more desirable careers paths and the need for more productive and effective building approaches. How we identify the new materials, technologies and approaches offer significant improvements in the sustainability, quality and build time of new homes whilst lowering costs.

We also need to address how we build closer relationships and public support for the homes we are building. We need to ensure the designs and developments are right for people’s needs and support thriving communities. The starting point to address these challenges is to strengthen how we work together to find effective solutions to these challenges. Using forums, such as the ones provided by Irish Construction Industry Magazine, allows us to work together to address how we deliver on Ireland’s needs.

How Altrad Generation is addressing the challenge
Since Altrad Generation took over Actavo Hire & Sale in 2021, it has significantly increased investment and expanded the range of equipment, services and sectors supported through form and false work, scaffolding, edge protection and ground works. We ensure the industry always has access to the equipment they need for the job at a good price.

We are also investing in new engineering and design support in the planning and design stages. This ensures our products can be scoped and specified within BIM and we can provide more support in planning phases.

The new investments in system scaffold and modular groundworks delivers significant labour and cost savings. For example, the Futuro ring-system provides housebuilders and scaffolders to provide safe working platforms 300% and 50% quicker than traditional scaffolding and Lok systems, respectively.

Whilst improving the range and capability of the equipment is important, it is not as critical as the people we support. We are working across the supply chain and customers to increase the training and support we provide, bringing new people to our industry and ensuring safe and effective working on site. With the necessary changes and support we can rise to the challenge. Our next step is to work together to answer Ireland’s 60,000 home challenge.

Graham Henderson is Altrad Generation’s Ireland Director supporting Irish construction and house building from five depots located in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast

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Michael McDonnell Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine

Email: michael@irishconstruction.com      WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE