RENTS IN EVERY county in Ireland rose by 11.3% in the year to September according to a report, with the average monthly rent nationwide at €1,334 which is €304 higher per month than at the Celtic Tiger peak.

The Daft.ie quarterly report for the third quarter of the year found that while rents have risen nationally they are mostly driven by dramatic rises in Dublin and other cities around the country.

In Dublin, rents are now 36% higher than their previous peak a decade ago, with people now paying €520 more to rent in the capital.

Meanwhile, in Limerick city rents were 20.3% higher than a year ago and 19.7% higher in Waterford.

Galway saw a somewhat smaller increase of 16.1%, while in Cork, rents rose by 13.7% in the same period. Outside the five main cities, rents rose by an average of 10.6%.

The lowest average rents were found in Leitrim (€577) and Donegal (€628).

Source: Daft.ie

Source: Daft.ie

In Dublin, the south of the city and the county were the regions with the highest average rents, but the city centre and North City saw the greatest increase in rents compared with this time last year.

Source: Daft.ie

There were 3,214 properties available to rent nationwide on 1 November this year, which is a 4.5% decrease on the same figure a year ago.

In Dublin, there has been a small increase of 6.4% in the availability of rental properties but according to the report, this was offset by the falls in availability elsewhere. In particular elsewhere in Leinster (down 15%) and in Munster (13%).

‘A cause for huge concern’

Economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft report, Ronan Lyons said that while the findings of the report may not be surprising, the current condition of the private rental sector is a high cause for concern.

Lyons continued that when looking at a comparison of the of the country’s households and its dwellings, it reveals an acute shortage of apartments and not family homes.

“The recent increase in residential construction is being driven by estate houses, not apartment schemes.

“Dramatically increasing the construction of urban apartments, for both market and social housing sectors, must become the priority for policymakers in 2019,” Lyons said.

The majority of those new urban apartments will be for the rental sector, either market or social. That is what the country’s housing system needs. The question now is whether it will get it.

Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.