Rents jump by almost 7% in past year

Rents have risen by around of 6.7% in the past year, a report has shown.

According to the latest quarterly rental report by Daft.ie, this marks the lowest rate of rental inflation across the country since the end of 2013.

Nationwide, the average monthly rate of 1,391 euro marks the 13th consecutive quarter of record rents.

The average listed rent is now 361 euro per month higher than the previous peak in 2008 and almost 650 euro higher than the low seen in late 2011.

The slowdown in rental inflation is driven by Dublin, where annual inflation has fallen from a high of 13.4% in mid-2018 to 4.5% today.

There has been a cooling off in inflation in the other major cities however, the level of inflation is still higher than in Dublin.

In Cork, rents are 7.9% higher than a year ago, while in Galway city rents are 9.1% higher.

In Limerick, rents have increased by 10.5% in a year, similar to the increase seen in Waterford city at 10%.

Outside the major cities, rental inflation varies from 6.2% in Leinster to close to 12% in both Munster and Connacht-Ulster.

Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the report, said: “The slowdown in rental inflation will be welcome news to tenants and policymakers, among others.

“It is more likely driven by limits to affordability than improved supply, however.

“Availability on the rental market remains at levels that were unprecedented prior to 2015.

“For example, in the Dublin market, there were just 1,541 properties available to rent on August 1.

“While that’s up from 1,121 two years ago, it’s well below the average of 4,700 for the preceding decade.

“Building new rental supply remains critical to fixing the rental market.

“New figures in this report suggest that up to 25,000 new rental homes will be built over the coming few years.

“These will certainly help address the supply-demand imbalance. Stopping further inflation should be just the first target for policymakers, however.

Bringing rents down to affordable levels must remain the ultimate goal.”

Pierre Yimbog, president of Technological University Dublin Student union, said that students renting accommodation remain at the mercy of the “critically undersupplied Irish rental market”.

“It’s having a negative impact on their studies, wellbeing, and future,” he said.

“So far this year, we have seen no improvements in the accommodation crisis, as evidenced by this quarter’s Daft rental report.

“Though several options are being discussed in the media, no tangible realistic solution has yet materialised.

“That means that this year’s record number of CAO applicants, as well as the students progressing to their next year of study, will once again swap summer exam anxiety for the stress of a frantic search for accommodation, a basic need, in a critically undersupplied and financially inflated rental market.

“There are currently 75,500 students living in Dublin.

“According to property company, CBRE, it is estimated that the number of bed-spaces provided in purpose built student and university accommodation amounts to under 14,000.

“At present, there are thousands of students on university campus accommodation waiting lists.”