A chronic housing shortage means Irish renters are left at the mercy of landlords charging extortionate rates. The latest sorry development sees people being charged €550 ($629) a month to share a bed with a stranger.

Prospective tenants, aggrieved at the capital’s current rental situation, have been posting screen grabs on social media of adverts where a spot in a bed has been offered for hundreds of euro.

my friend’s sister was looking for somewhere to rent in Dublin and some stranger was actually trying to charge her €700 a month TO SHARE A BED WITH HIM — BoBo The Angsty Zebra (@diewithurpawsup) June 26, 2018

Now in an investigation into the practice, The Times is reporting that some bedshares are costing almost the same per month as renting a full apartment in the Irish capital Dublin back in 2012.

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According to the newspaper, one recent advert for a bed in the area of Islandbridge, South Dublin, asked interested parties to pay €540 ($618) per month for half a double bed. The average monthly cost of a one bedroom apartment in 2012 was reportedly €660 ($756).

This is Dublins' housing crisis. €520 a month to share a bed with a stranger, shared to a FB rental forum. #HomesForAll NOW pic.twitter.com/eKd9XnbzIA — Róisín Hackett (@hxcko) November 12, 2018

Another bedshare saw someone offer a place in a bed beside a “Japanese girl” for €280 ($320) per month. The bizarre rental proposals are not isolated incidents, with a number of Irish residents reporting offers of bed shares throughout 2018.

In cities such as #Dublin, people are doubling, tripling, and quadrupling up in rooms. In some situations, shift workers share a bed, using it at different times of day because of the lack of affordability and supply says @Aideen_Hayden at #Dail committee on #housing today — Threshold (@ThresholdIRE) July 4, 2018

In another example of bed sharing seen by RT.com and shared on a well known Irish property website, the poster said they were looking for “either man or woman” to move into their bed. The cost per month to live at the dwelling near Dublin’s Grafton Street was cited as €500 ($572) per month.

Trying to move out in Dublin even to just a bedroom in a house and owners are literally looking for 300+ a month to share a poxy bunk bed with a stranger. The young people need to get out and protest in Dublin because I’m poxy sick of it — Shauna Brennan (@Shaunabrennan0) June 18, 2018

Ireland’s Minister for Public Housing Eoghan Murphy has said that more money will be invested in rental property inspections. It comes as a National Oversight and Audit Commission report revealed that out of 16,000 inspections last year, 79 percent of rental properties were not up to the required standard.

Nationwide – this is the lowest figure on record for November (since 2006) 📉https://t.co/a33n1Jy7oSpic.twitter.com/o3RNy2TNhj — Daft.ie (@daftmedia) November 12, 2018

Ireland is currently in the midst of severe shortage in available housing in large part due to a dearth in new properties being built. The situation has resulted in high rental prices, with rates increasing for the 29th consecutive quarter earlier this month.

According to Daft.ie, an Irish property company, the average rent in Ireland is now at the all-time high of €1,334 ($1,528) per month. Meanwhile, rental prices have rocketed to an astonishing €2,016 ($2,309) in parts of Dublin’s city center.

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