IHBA House Building Summit 2026: A day focused on delivery

The IHBA House Building Summit 2026, held on Tuesday 21st April at Croke Park, brought together senior voices from government, local authorities, finance and the development sector.

Now in its seventh year, the Summit continues to position itself as a forum where policy, planning and delivery intersect, with a clear emphasis on unlocking supply at scale and addressing the systemic constraints facing homebuilding in Ireland.

How Ireland can accelerate housing delivery

The Summit was structured around the core question of how Ireland can deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030.

The day centred around a variety of talks and panels, with sessions on:

enabling infrastructure,
fibre-ready housing,
market outlook for 2026,
technology and innovation in heating and energy,
European Housing Plan, and
development viability.

Panels examined the challenges inhibiting construction activity, including infrastructure delays, judicial review, cost pressures and funding constraints. The agenda concluded with a discussion on growing SMEs to help build more houses.

Contributions

Thanks to all our speakers on the day, who brought knowledge and thought leadership to the discussions and panels.

Thank you also to the sponsors and exhibitors who contributed to the success of the Summit. Our appreciation to our event partners in Business Post for their organisation of the day.

Strong narrative

The day accumulated great narrative and media coverage, highlighting the importance of these vital discussions across the sector. Read back to the news generated on the day.

RTE Radio 1
📰Construction sector ‘resilient’ but costs are rising – CIF

The Irish Times
📰Interest rates poised to rise on Iran conflict uncertainty

TheJournal.ie
📰There are vastly differing views on what war means for home building
📰Housing summit hears US-Iran war adding up to €20,000 for homes

As well as the written articles, Conor O’Connell, CIF Director for Housing, Planning and Development, was on RTE Morning Ireland and Newstalk Breakfast, highlighting the concerns the ongoing fuel crisis is having on rising construction costs.

🎙️RTE Radio 1
Listen back here.

🎙️Newstalk Breakfast
Listen back here.

📺RTE One – CIF hosts housing conference at Croke Park
Watch back here.