Homebuyers struggling to find a property are facing a new supply crunch with “thousands” of new homes being delayed because they can’t access electricity.

The slowdown in power-grid connections comes despite a big Government push to escalate housing output this year, after new home deliveries fell in 2024.

ESB Networks, the State-owned company responsible for grid connections, acknowledged “limited” capacity in some locations.

The company declined to specify the areas of constraint or when it expects to settle the matter. However, building industry sources said problems with electricity access for housing were evident in areas such as: Celbridge, Co Kildare; Portlaoise, Co Laois; Navan, Co Meath; and parts of Cork.

“Ireland is currently experiencing high demand for new electrical connections – driven by population growth, industrial development and accelerated electrification targets – which has led to capacity constraints in certain parts of the electricity network,” ESB Networks said.

“A single individual home may be connected within a number of weeks, whereas a new multiphase residential or industrial development could require a very significant amount of new infrastructure to be built, which is then subject to design, planning and procurement lead-times,” it added.

“Significant additional demands on the electricity network are being driven by policy and market changes, ranging from housing targets to the electrification of heat, transport and industry. In some instances, this requires significant infrastructure in areas that traditionally had very limited demand.”

At the same time, ESB Networks said it faces longer lead-in times to procure crucial equipment because of conditions in international markets.

“For example, a transformer that had a lead-time of one year before the Russian invasion of Ukraine now has a lead-time of three years.”

Citing Government incentives to boost housing output, Conor O’Connell, director of housing and planning at the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), which represents hundreds of builders, said waiver and rebate schemes for development charges and water connections expire at the end of 2026.

“Builders are therefore under pressure to deliver housing before that date. Delays with utility connections could have significant implications.”

The problem with electricity substations comes even though special measures have been taken to curb grid access to power-hungry data centres, buildings with highly energy-intensive computer systems for storing internet data, whose demand for electricity has surged in recent years.

“Thousands of homes are affected by connectivity delays,” said Mr O’Connell.

Mr O’Connell attributed the problem to the need to upgrade electricity substations in certain parts of the State because of rising demand for power. This comes despite efforts to increase housing deliveries to 40,000 in 2025 from a little above 30,000 last year.

Substations are critical for housing, converting high-voltage electricity from power plants to a lower-voltage supply for homes.

“In the last number of weeks, we’ve become aware of significant capacity issues within the ESB grid, particularly in the eastern region. Some of the substations have gone to zero per cent capacity,” Mr O’Connell said.

“We have been told that it‘s a temporary issue that will require upgrade works so the substations will have increased capacity in the next number of weeks or months. But at the moment, there are no connections,” he said.

“It‘s not possible to connect new homes to the grid at the moment in certain parts of the country. It‘s fair to say that dozens of sites are affected. I’m aware of one site with 70 units. I’m aware of another with several hundred.”

Such problems come on top of concern about constraints on the water network, presenting yet another challenge to Minister for Housing James Browne.

Mr Browne’s preferred candidate for “housing tsar” – National Asset Management Agency chief executive Brendan McDonagh – withdrew last week because of a Coalition row over his €430,000 salary.

Yesterday Fianna Fáil Cork South Central TD Seamus McGrath said the salary for the new role will not be “anywhere near” the €430,000 that had been mooted.

Speaking on RTÉ‘s This Week programme, Mr McGrath said: “That type of salary was excessive and I don’t believe it will ultimately be anywhere near that.”