Housing crisis deepens as rents soar by over 9pc
The pressure on the housing rental market has increased further as costs for new tenancies rose by 9.2pc in the first three months of this year when compared to the same period last year, the latest rent index report shows.
The latest jump is one of the highest on record.
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) said the national average rent in new tenancies is now €1,460, which is an increase of €46 compared to the last three months of last year.
Rents for new tenancies in Dublin are now €2,015 per month.
The average rent outside Dublin is €1,127 per month
The purpose of the Rent Index is to measure rental price developments faced by those taking up new tenancies in the private rental sector. The RTB said it does not measure the actual rent being paid by tenants.
A decrease in the number of new tenancies by 32% further increased the pressure on the market with new tenancy registrations down from 15,291 to 10,414.
The lowest monthly rents were in Leitrim, where the standardised average rent in new tenancies stood at €734 per month.
Fourteen counties have standardised average rents in new tenancies above €1,000 per month in Q1 2022: Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Louth, Meath, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.
The lowest yearly growth in the standardised average rent for new tenancies in Q1 2022 was in Wicklow where rents grew by 1.3%.
The county with the fastest growing standardised average rent in new tenancies in Q1 2022 was Leitrim which reported 22.4% year-on-year growth. Twelve counties had a yearly growth rate in new tenancy rents above 10% in Q1 2022.
Niall Byrne, RTB Director, commenting on the findings said: "The latest Rent Index, which is based on new tenancies registered with the RTB in the first quarter of 2022, shows continued growth in rents nationally with a yearly increase of 9.2%. We also see a continued fall in the number of tenancies that were registered with the RTB in Q1 2022.
"These results are likely still indirectly impacted by COVID-19 public health measures along with constraints in supply and tenants choosing to stay longer in their existing tenancies. In reading the Index, it is also important to note that these results only provide us with a snapshot into a small proportion of the private rental sector in Ireland," Mr Byrne said.