Last updated: September 2026. Human compiled and fact checked against each named source on 30 September 2026.
Dublin renovates differently from the rest of Ireland. Its housing stock is older, more tightly packed and almost fully occupied, so the capital accounts for roughly a third of every extension permission granted in the State and more than four in ten permissions for alterations and conversions. This page gathers the current figures for Dublin specifically, from planning permissions and the age of the stock through to energy ratings, vacancy and building costs, each linked to its primary source. It sits alongside our national pages on home renovation and extensions, attic conversions, home energy and retrofits, building costs, housing stock and vacancy and bathroom and accessibility renovation.
Key Dublin Renovation and Extension Statistics at a Glance
- 1,252 permissions for extensions to dwellings were granted in Dublin in the first half of 2026, 34.1% of the national total of 3,667 (calculated). Source: CSO, table BHQ13
- Dublin took 1,086 of the 2,628 permissions for alterations and conversions to dwellings in the first half of 2026, a share of 41.3% (calculated). Source: CSO, table BHQ13
- Permissions for alterations and conversions to Dublin dwellings rose to 577 in Quarter 2 2026 from 431 a year earlier, an increase of 33.9% (calculated). Source: CSO, table BHQ13
- Dublin holds 518,490 occupied dwellings, 28.2% of the State’s total, so the capital extends and converts at well above its share of the housing stock (calculated). Source: CSO, Census 2022, table FY033A
- 72.5% of Dublin’s occupied homes were built before 2001 and 35.4% before 1971, against 66.9% and 29.2% nationally (calculated, excluding not stated). Source: CSO, table FY033A
- 63.3% of Dublin’s occupied homes are semi detached or terraced, against 45.7% nationally, which is why rear extensions and attic conversions dominate the capital’s project mix (calculated). Source: CSO, table FY033A
- 3,241 new dwelling units were approved across the four Dublin local authorities in Quarter 2 2026, up 78.5% year on year and 27% of the national total. Source: CSO, Planning Permissions Quarter 2 2026
- Dublin has the lowest vacancy in the country: South Dublin 0.9% and Fingal 1.1% on the CSO electricity measure, and 1.4% for the county on GeoDirectory’s count. Sources: CSO, March 2026 and GeoDirectory, July 2026
- The minimum base rebuild cost for a 98 square metre three bed semi in Dublin is €331,340, or €3,381 per square metre, the highest of any region. Source: SCSI, House Rebuilding Cost Guide, November 2025
- The four Dublin local authorities share a projected €35.98 million in housing adaptation grant funding for 2026, 23.6% of the national total (calculated). Source: Department of Housing, 9 March 2026
Dublin’s Share of Extensions and Conversions
The CSO publishes planning permissions by region, and the Dublin region covers the four local authorities of Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. Summing the quarterly figures in table BHQ13 gives 1,252 permissions for extensions to dwellings in Dublin in the first half of 2026, out of 3,667 nationally, a share of 34.1% (calculated). For alterations and conversions to dwellings, the category that covers attic conversions, garage conversions and internal remodelling, Dublin took 1,086 of 2,628, a share of 41.3%.
Both shares are far above Dublin’s 28.2% share of the country’s occupied dwellings (calculated from Census table FY033A). In a city where moving is expensive and sites are constrained, households adapt the house they already have.
The direction of travel differs between the two categories. Extensions to Dublin dwellings were broadly flat in the second quarter of 2026 at 666 permissions against 695 a year earlier, a fall of 4.2%, while alterations and conversions rose to 577 from 431, an increase of 33.9% (both calculated). Across the full year 2025 Dublin recorded 2,502 dwelling extension permissions and 1,782 for alterations and conversions.
New building in the capital moved sharply in the same quarter. The CSO Planning Permissions release for Quarter 2 2026, published on 17 September 2026, recorded 3,241 new dwelling units approved across the four Dublin local authorities, up 78.5% on a year earlier, made up of 2,412 apartments and 829 houses. Dublin accounted for 43% of all apartments approved in the State and 27% of all dwelling units.
Building Activity and Prices in the Capital
Dublin dominates national construction activity as well as approvals. GeoDirectory counted 6,107 residential buildings under construction in Dublin in June 2026, the highest of any county, within a national total of 30,508 that was up 27.8% in a year, and recorded 12,524 new residential address points added in Dublin in the twelve months to June, more than a third of the national total of 37,128, per its Q2 2026 Residential Buildings Report. The same report put the average Dublin house price at €596,997 in the twelve months to May 2026, the highest in the country against a national average of €437,631.
Completions, however, have been falling in the capital even as approvals surge. The CSO New Dwelling Completions release for Quarter 2 2026 recorded a 16.4% annual fall in the Dublin region, the largest decline of any region, within a national fall of 3.6%. Dublin and the Mid-East together accounted for 57.6% of all completions in 2025, per the Quarter 4 2025 release. With prices at that level and new supply slipping, the arithmetic of extending rather than trading up is doing a lot of work in Dublin households, which is what the permission figures above reflect.
The Four Dublin Local Authorities Are Not Alike
Dublin City alone holds 33,576 homes built before 1919, 21.8% of every pre-1919 home in Ireland. The national older stock is covered on our period and older homes statistics page.
Treating Dublin as one market hides large differences in the age and type of the stock. The table below is calculated from Census 2022 table FY033A, with period built shares excluding households where the year of construction was not stated.
| Local authority | Occupied dwellings | Built before 2001 | Built before 1971 | Semi detached or terraced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin City | 225,519 | 80.0% | 53.3% | 58.6% |
| Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | 85,110 | 74.4% | 38.7% | 55.5% |
| South Dublin | 100,262 | 72.4% | 18.3% | 78.0% |
| Fingal | 107,599 | 55.6% | 11.6% | 65.7% |
| Dublin total | 518,490 | 72.5% | 35.4% | 63.3% |
The contrast is stark. More than half of Dublin City’s occupied homes predate 1971, against about one in nine in Fingal, so the typical Dublin City project involves solid wall construction, older services and often a protected structure or conservation area, while a Fingal project is more likely to be a newer estate house being reconfigured or extended. South Dublin has the highest concentration of semi detached and terraced housing in the capital at 78.0%, which is the classic stock for a rear extension or an attic conversion.
Energy Ratings Across the Dublin Postcodes
Dublin performs above the national average on building energy ratings, but the spread within the county is wide. The CSO Domestic Building Energy Ratings release for Quarter 2 2026, the first published under the new A0 to G scale introduced on 24 May 2026, records Dublin County at 29% of rated dwellings holding an A or A0 rating. Within the Dublin postal districts, Dublin 18 leads at 45%, followed by Dublin 13 at 32% and Dublin 20 at 27%.
Heating fuel is where Dublin diverges most from the country. The CSO’s Quarter 1 2026 release recorded 61% of rated dwellings in the Dublin region heated by mains gas, against a national picture where mains gas and heating oil each account for 34%, per the Quarter 1 2026 release. A Dublin retrofit is therefore usually a question of what replaces a gas boiler, which is covered in detail on our home energy and retrofit statistics page.
Dublin Has the Least Empty Housing in Ireland
Where rural counties carry significant vacancy, Dublin has almost none. On the CSO’s measure based on metered electricity consumption, South Dublin recorded the lowest vacancy rate in the State at 0.9%, with Fingal at 1.1%, against a national rate of 3.2% and a rural rate of 5.4%, per the CSO release of 24 March 2026. GeoDirectory’s separate count put the county at 1.4%, the lowest in Ireland, in its Q2 2026 Residential Buildings Report.
Dublin City is the exception within the county. It held 5,670 vacant dwellings in absolute terms, among the highest local authority totals in the country, and accounted for 13% of all Irish dwellings that became vacant during 2024, per the same CSO release. The practical reading for a Dublin homeowner is that there is very little slack to buy into, which pushes demand back onto extending and upgrading occupied homes.
What Building Work Costs in Dublin
Dublin is the most expensive region in the country to build in. The SCSI House Rebuilding Cost Guide of 4 November 2025 put the Dublin rate at €3,381 per square metre, making the minimum base rebuild cost of a typical 98 square metre three bed semi €331,340, against €2,756 per square metre and €270,090 in the North West. Dublin rose 5% over that twelve month period while the national average rose 7%.
Tender prices then accelerated in 2026. The SCSI Tender Price Index of 25 August 2026 recorded a 2.5% rise in Dublin in the first half of the year within a national rise of 3%, the largest six monthly increase in three and a half years. Materials and wages are tracked on our building and renovation cost statistics page.
Dublin extensions also tend to be smaller than the national average. Permission was granted for 116,348 square metres of dwelling extension floor area in Dublin in 2025 across 2,502 permissions, an average of about 46 square metres per permission, against about 66 square metres nationally (both calculated from CSO table BHQ14). Tighter plots produce tighter extensions, and more of them now fall under the 45 square metre exemption introduced on 27 July 2026.
Adaptation Grants in the Capital
The four Dublin local authorities have a projected combined allocation of €35.98 million in housing adaptation grant funding for 2026, 23.6% of the national total of €152.35 million (calculated from the county table in the Department of Housing announcement of 9 March 2026). Dublin City alone is allocated €15.38 million including the local authority contribution, the largest single allocation in the country. Nationally, 15,700 claims were processed in 2025 and around 17,000 are funded for 2026. The works these grants pay for, and the falls evidence behind them, are set out on our bathroom and accessibility renovation statistics page.
Method and Sources
Every figure was taken from the named primary source on 30 September 2026: CSO Planning Permissions Quarter 2 2026 (published 17 September 2026) and PxStat tables BHQ13 and BHQ14; CSO Census 2022 table FY033A and Profile 2 Housing in Ireland; CSO Domestic Building Energy Ratings for Quarter 2 2026 and Quarter 1 2026; the CSO Frontier Series release Residential Vacancy Based on Metered Electricity Consumption 2024 (24 March 2026); the GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report for Quarter 2 2026; the SCSI House Rebuilding Cost Guide of 4 November 2025 and Tender Price Index of 25 August 2026; and the Department of Housing statement of 9 March 2026. The CSO publishes planning permissions by region rather than by individual local authority, so the Dublin permission figures cover the Dublin region as a whole, while the Census figures in the local authority table are published for each of the four authorities separately. Figures marked calculated were derived by OS Holding from the cited tables, specifically the half year and annual sums of quarterly permissions, the Dublin shares of national totals, the period built and dwelling type shares excluding not stated responses, and the average floor area per permission. The page will be refreshed with each quarterly CSO Planning Permissions and BER release and after each SCSI index.
How OS Holding Helps
OS Holding is a Dublin building contractor working across the four local authority areas, from Rathmines and Marino in the older city stock to Swords, Lucan, Clondalkin and Finglas. We design and build house extensions, attic conversions and full house renovations suited to the age and construction of each area’s housing. For a written, itemised quote on your own project, request a quote or contact the team. Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote any figure here with a link to the source and to this page.
