The amount of housing available in Donegal has risen just very slightly in the past six years while it has fallen in Sligo and Leitrim.
That’s according to CSO figures just released on housing in Ireland.
They show that in all three counties, there are fewer vacant dwellings, more people are renting and there are fewer younger home owners.
The CSO says housing stock is the number of permanent residential dwellings that are available for occupancy at the time of the census.
Donegal’s housing stock grew to 83,931, an increase of a mere 0.2% from April 2011.
The county had 58,305 permanent occupied dwellings in April 2016 compared to 57,721 in April 2011.
The number of vacant dwellings in Donegal has fallen to 22,992 — down from 23,996 in 2011. Of this, the number of holiday homes counted was almost 11,290.
14,434 households were in rental accommodation in Donegal compared to 13,989 in 2011.
Home ownership overtakes renting in Donegal at the age of 34. The home ownership rate is over 72%.
Leitrim had 12,404 permanent occupied dwellings in April 2016.
The number of vacant dwellingds in Leitrim fell by about 300 over the last six years to 5,226 last year. Of this, there were more than 1,600 holiday homes.
More than 3,000 households are in rental accommodation in Leitrim and people in Leitrim begin to buy — rather than rent — at age 33.
Home ownership rate for Leitrim is 73%.
Leitrim continues to have one of the highest rates of vacant houses in the country.
Sligo has 24,761 permanent occupied dwellings in April 2016, an increase of 1.4% in six years.
The number of vacant dwellings in Sligo fell to 6,571 from 7,328 in 2011. This included more than 1,840 holiday homes.
Almost 6,960 households were in rental accommodation last year.
And people begin buying their homes in Sligo at the age of 35.