Developers reap healthy profits while claiming housebuilding is not lucrative

Astra Construction posted a thirteenfold increase in after-tax profits between 2018 and 2019, while Park Developments saw a €14.8m profit over 18 months

Numerous developers have claimed that the cost of building new houses is prohibitive. Picture: Getty

Leading Irish developers who recently claimed that house building is not profitable have made tens of millions of euros in profits in recent years.

Stephen McCarthy, managing director of Astra Construction, told the recent House Building Summit that building homes was not a profitable operation in Ireland.

“If house building was that profitable, there would be a lot more people doing it, but the fact of the matter is it’s not,” McCarthy said.

“There is ...