Housing Summit in Croke Park Overshadowed by Middle East Conflict

A housing summit in Croke Park found itself dominated by the Middle East conflict, with industry leaders warning that the war in Gaza and broader regional instability are adding significant costs to home building in Ireland.

The Irish Home Builders Association (IBHA) summit, held at Croke Park in Dublin, brought together dozens of companies and state bodies involved in housing delivery, where discussions shifted from optimism about meeting national housing targets to concerns over how international conflict is affecting construction costs and timelines.

According to reports from the summit, the ongoing war in Gaza and its wider implications for global supply chains, energy prices, and financing are being cited as key factors driving up expenses for developers, with some estimates suggesting the conflict could add as much as €20,000 to the cost of building a single home.

Industry representatives expressed concern that these additional costs, combined with existing pressures from labour shortages, planning delays, and infrastructure demands, are making it increasingly difficult to meet the government’s target of delivering 300,000 new homes by 2030.