ACROSS THE COUNTRY rents for new tenancies grew on average by 9.1% last year, with renters in Limerick City hit the worst with a 22.1% increase in the year. 

By comparison, Waterford City had the lowest annual growth rate in rents for new tenancies at 5%. 

The figures are included in the Residential Tenancies Board’s Q4 2023 Rent Index Report which is published today.

The authors of the report said it broadly shows a continuation of recent trends in the rental market, with the average rent for new tenancies remaining high across the country at 9.1%.

However, this figure is down marginally from the previous quarter (from 10.7% in Q3 2023), suggesting a moderation in price rises for new tenancies.

Taking the whole country into account, 29.7% of new tenancy rents were more than €2,000 per month compared to 15.7% of rents for existing tenancies. 

Some 13.6% of new tenancies had a monthly rent of above €2,500. This was compared to 5.6% of existing tenancies. 

The report also looked at the number of tenancies with rent of less than €1,000 per month.

Nationally 19.2% of new tenancies paid less than €1,000 compared to 34% of existing tenancies.

Commenting on the report, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the Government has “no plan” for a private rental sector that is “spiralling out of control”.

“How are regular working people expected to afford these rents? How are they to save for a deposit to buy a home?

“Month-on-month, year-on-year, rents continue to rise for new and existing tenants, inside and outside rent pressure zones, Ó Broin said.

Regional breakdown

New tenants faced higher rents than their existing counterparts in all counties, although with considerable variation in the magnitude of the gap, the report states.

Looking at existing tenancies (of leases longer than one year), rents across the country grew at a slower rate, on average by 5.9% in 2023.

New tenancy rents were on average 16.1% higher than existing tenancy rents in the final three months of 2023.

The average rent for a new tenancy on a national basis was €1,595 – an increase of €133 on the previous year.

For existing tenancies, the average rent was €1,374 on a national basis.

In Dublin, the average rent for a new tenancy was €2,098 per month compared to €1,569 in the greater Dublin earlier and €1,225. 

New tenancy rents saw particularly pronounced growth outside of the greater Dublin area, at a rate of almost double that seen in the capital. 

In Cork, rent for the average new tenancy was €1,400, €242 (20.9%) higher than the standardised average rent for existing tenancies which stood at €1,158.

Meanwhile Galway city saw the largest annual change in average rents for existing tenancies  at 6.1%.

The city which had the lowest annual growth rate in existing tenancy rents was Dublin City at 4.5%.

Fall in registrations

Meanwhile, the report revealed that there was a significant fall in the number of new tenancy registrations compared to the same period in 2022. 

In 2023 there were 21% fewer new tenancies registered than in 2022. 

The report states that the year-on-year falls were most significant from Q2 2023 onwards, coinciding with a jump in new tenancy rental inflation.

However, the authors have said some caution over the “precise magnitude” of the fall is required as late registrations can occur.

The RTB Rent Index report is based on RTB tenancy registration data.