Developer interest in new property projects eased last year following a slight pick-up in 1999.
Latest figures from the Government showed private buildings granted consent to commence work in the first 11 months of last year amounted to 16.7 million square feet of usable floor area.
The figure - covering residential, residential-commercial, commercial and industrial projects - was down on the 21.8 million sq ft for the whole of 1999, and 20.1 million sq ft for 1998.
According to figures for January to November last year, the residential-commercial sector saw a significant drop, with 4.3 million sq ft of residential and 1.06 million sq ft non-residential usable area granted consent.
In 1999 the corresponding figures were 9.4 million sq ft of residential and 980,000 sq ft non-residential area.
The residential building category was relatively steady, with 7.5 million sq ft granted consent to start work in the first 11 months of last year. This compared with 8.3 million sq ft for 1999.
In commercial properties, work consent was given for 2.56 million sq ft in the 11-month period, compared with 2.1 million sq ft for the whole of 1999.
