Number of houses owned outright increases

The number of homes owned outright in County Cavan has increased by between 1,000 to 1,500 units, analysis of the 2022 census data shows.

In the same period - April 2016 and April 2022 - the population of Cavan grew by rose by 5,528 to 81,704 - which is an increase of 7%.

The increase in home ownership is higher than in neighbouring counties Monaghan, Leitrim and Longford where the figures have increased by under 1,000 since the previous census in 2016; the Cavan figures are on the same level as counties Sligo, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois and Kilkenny, but still lower than every other county in Ireland.

In both Dublin and Cork, the number of properties owned outright increased by between 10,000 to 14,000.

The number of homes owned outright now stands at 37% – which equates to 679,718 in total. By comparison, in 2011, there were more households that were owned with a mortgage than owned outright.

This has been reversed over the last decade with the number of households being owned with a mortgage falling by 51,941.

Some 73% of homes in Cavan had three or four bedrooms, 17% of properties had one to two bedrooms and 12% had five rooms or more in what was the first year of this question being asked.

Rentals

Looking at the rental sector, there are an additional 48,457 households recorded nationally as rentals in the 2022 Census, compared to 2016. Meanwhile, there are an additional 63,373 households, which are owner occupied.

Rented properties are slowly increasing their share of the overall property market in every county in Ireland, with the exception of Kildare and Wicklow.

The number of households that rented their accommodation from a private landlord rose by seven per cent, or 20,904 properties, to 330,632 between 2016 and 2022. There were an additional 10,014 households renting from a local authority, which is fewer than the 13,115 increase in households renting from a housing agency or voluntary body.

In terms of the biggest increase in the number of overall households at a county level, Meath saw the largest percentage increase (13.6%).

Age profile

Census 2022 also showed significant shifts in the age profile of the population, which has been tracking upwards for some time. Some 15% of the population are now aged over 65 years, compared to 13.4% in 2016 and 11.7% in 2011. These shifts are further reflected in the 1.4-year increase to the average age across the country, which now stands at 38.8 years (up from 37.4 in 2016).

The increase in the average age of the population is being attributed as one of the reasons for the increase in property ownership, according to Richard Cantwell, lead location consult with Gamma, a location intelligence technology company in Ireland and the UK that conducted the analysis.

He said: “We can see from the Census results that Ireland’s population is continuing to mature and grow, and it’s very interesting to see the variations in housing types and ownership across the country in the context of these demographics.

For example, the maturing population could be the driver of more outright home ownership in certain areas, while increasing population is impacting on the rental market in others.”