Skip to content

Rents rise in every county in Ireland, latest quarterly rental report shows

Nationally, rents have risen by over 11% in the space of 12 months with the national average rent now €933 compared to €842 a year previously, the data from the property firm also shows.

However, Dublin's annual rate has slowed for the first time in five years, but prices have still risen by over 14% in the capital since the last three months of 2013.

In the other city centres, rents continue to climb. Waterford experienced an annual rise of 5%, Limerick 6%, Galway 7% and Cork 8%. Most of Dublin's neighbouring counties also continue to see double digit inflation with Meath witnessing growth of 11%, Wicklow 13% and Kildare 14%.

The number of properties available to rent has continued to plummet. At the beginning of November there were fewer than 5,400 properties to rent nationwide, the lowest figure since May 2007.

‘In many ways, the lack of available properties to rent is more concerning than the high rental rates, although clearly the two phenomena are inextricably linked,’ said Ronan Lyons, economist at TCD and author of the Daft Report.

‘The only silver lining is the fact that this quarter was the first time in five years that rent inflation in the capital eased somewhat. However, even if an easing in Dublin inflation continues and stops the affordability crisis from worsening, it does nothing to change the availability crisis,’ he added.

A breakdown of the figures shows what has been happening in the major cities. In Dublin rents are up 16.6%, in Cork 7.9%, Galway 7.2%, Limerick 6.4% and Waterford up 4.5%.
 
Rents continued to rise throughout the country between August and October, according to the figures published in the report. Over the last two years, the average rent nationwide has risen by almost €150, from €790 a month to €933. As has been documented in previous issues of this report, that national trend is being driven by Dublin, where rents are up an average of €300 a month since 2012.

But the latest figures show that rental inflation outside the cities is above what might be considered a healthy rate, in line with the rest of the economy. While prices in the rest of the economy were roughly flat in the year to October, rent inflation stayed above 10%.

An analysis of the figures show that while there has been some uptick in non-city rents, particularly in Leinster, average monthly rents remain well below their 2007 levels, typically by about 20%.

In Dublin rents are now almost 30% above their lowest point in 2012 and less than 10% below their 2007 peaks. Lyons said that this is very damaging for Dublin's competitiveness as a location for foreign direct investment. ‘The goal of housing policy should be to ensure that, regardless of whether it's to rent or to buy, rural or urban, housing is abundant and affordable.

In many ways, the lack of choice is more concerning than the high rental rates, although clearly the two phenomena are inextricably linked,’ he explained.

The data also shows that the number of properties listed to rent in Dublin has fallen from over 47,000 in the first nine months of 2011 to less than 27,000 in the same period this year.

 

Related