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THE NUMBER OF homes available for rent across Ireland has dropped to an “all-time low” leading to further price spikes around the country, according to Daft.ie.
In its latest quarterly rental report, the property advertisement website notes that there were just 1,460 homes available to rent on 1 November. This is the lowest amount since Daft began tracking availability in January 2006.
The amount available now is almost half the previous lowest amount, which was recorded in mid-2019.
In Dublin there were only 820 properties available to rent, a fall of 51% on the same date last year and the first time, since Daft began its dataset, that the rental stock in the capital has dropped below 1,000.
This has led to rental prices in Dublin increasing 2.7% on a year-on-year basis.
The increases were even steeper across other cities with a year-on-year jump of 6.9% recorded in Cork, 8.3% in Galway, 8.9% in Limerick and 10% in Waterford.
The average rent nationally now stands at €1,516 per month. This is a spike of 6.8% and marks the 36th consecutive quarter where rents are higher than they were in the previous twelve months.
Excluding the cities, the average rent across the country stands at €1,153, an increase of 11.9% on last year. In Mayo, Roscommon and Leitrim rents rose by over 20% on a year-on-year basis.
Record levels of inflation were recorded across Connacht, Ulster and Munster. Stocks were also at a record low across all the provinces with just 236 homes available to rent in Munster, 232 in Leinster (outside Dublin) and 172 across Connacht and Ulster.
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The Daft report notes that the increase in rents “reflects an on-going and unprecedented scarcity of rental homes”.
“Covid-19 temporarily reshuffled Ireland’s rental problems but the latest figures confirm those problems of shortages are getting worse over time,” Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the report, said.
“While some argue against the construction of large numbers of purpose built rental homes, any solution to the chronic shortage of rental homes in Ireland must include building new ones.
“In this regard, the pipeline of almost 45,000 new build-to-rent homes – while concentrated in the Dublin area – is particularly welcome.”
Lyons concluded: “More than 50,000 more rental homes have been proposed. Their construction would help improve the availability and affordability of rental homes, something for policymakers and planners to consider.”
In a statement, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers (IPAV), said the latest report shows “a severe and diminishing lack of rental properties to meet demand”.
“While there is such a low level of stock, rents are going to remain elevated,” Pat Davitt, IPAV Chief Executive, said.
“We’ve had some expert opinion warning of the risks associated with rent controls. We believe further rent controls are not the answer but increasing the supply of homes for rental and for purchase. This is critical from a social and economic perspective.”
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2k a month on rent is the same as monthly repayments for roughly 800k mortgage. What would your monthly earning want to be to get approval for a 800k mortgage?? Housing and rents in Ireland are completely out of control……
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Ha some exaggeration…… Maybe on a €800k mortgage if taken over 60 years at 2.25%. Dont think banks do 60 year mortgages!!! …… €525k at 2.25% over 30 years is about €2k per month.
@Shane Carroll: wouldn’t it be a great world if you could get an interest free mortgage. Interest on an 800k mortgage @ 2.25% over 30 years is around 300k. Factor that in. Total repayments around 1.1 million. And thats a low enough rate which is bound to go up during the term.
@Liam Collins: and everyone else who points out it’s an exaggeration: 560 or 600 or 700 or whatever the final number is, it’s still out of reach for many, if not the majority. The message doesn’t change.
@Sean Minihane: he said 2k a month mortgage. That includes the interest. The actual loan is obviously a lower number, the bank aren’t lending money out of good will.
@M Bowe: and yet there are built to let developments being objected to by politicians when these very same properties would increase the volume of properties to let, not everyone wants to buy and renting suits them
I paid 96 ooo….in rent last 8 years…I could take a mortgage….but we decide to build a bungalow back at home in Romania….when it will be ready in 2 years the investment will be around 100 000 …value on market around 150 ooo….I did this because I wanna be mortgage free…i sacrifice 10 years but at least …I will be free…I will have the 10 years worked that u need for the pension if the Creator will give days to enjoy or help my grandsons or children…With that pension.Its a cracked market….but the gov….close the eyes …I luv Ireland…but Dublin is getting tougher and rougher day by day …and I think will move back home…
@Florin Strango: why does everyone hate mortgages so much its the cheapest money you will ever get, if you took out and 80k mortgage at 3% and invested your 80k in an investment fund which averages around 8% you’d be much better off after the 30 years. your investment will be over 330k and mortgage costing 150k
@eoin carroll: my choice….don’t give the the bird from your hand for one that is on a fence…. investment funds no thank u ….I buy diamonds…Jhon Brereton…u can take a 3000 jewellery and pay it over the next 12 months ..with a deposit of 10 precent….Swiss francs….gold….couple of years we bought 2 rings for 5500…now same carats and clarity stays around of 9000 grand
@RogersRabbit: Why? People need to remember that Irish people have been gouging rents and any other expense poessible out of their fellow people since the start. It is an easy dig to blame the gov, but why not focus the blame on the ordinary people putting rents up ahead of inflation every year – the vulture funds are only doing what Irish people have been doing for years.
There’s no political appetite to solve the problem that is making them rich. The best thing young people can do is stay in their parents house and refuse to budge. Then it will be in everyone’s interest to finally address this issue, and ban foreign investment in the property market.
@Colin: It’s not so much foreign investment per se, it’s the low interest rate. That’s a result of the credit crisis of a decade ago, and one thing it’s meant for is to make it easier for southern European countries to pay off their debts. But this had another consequence, which was that it’s harder to make money off interest for investors, so they’ve been looking for other investments including the property market. It’s one of the reasons I was against the one-size-fits-all EU monetary policy, since this continent is not a natural currency region, and I’m afraid the property market price hikes are testament to that.
I should add that one thing investors are obviously after is future rental profits, so one thing you could do is introduce legislation to the effect that whoever buys a property has to live in it for a certain period of time.
This is ridiculous how are the younger generation like myself supposed to start families in our parents house? I’m genuinely considering emigrating out of Ireland and establishing my counselling and psychotherapy practice somewhere in Europe or Australia because there is no chance of a home here for me.
@Ciaran Burke: You’re certainly not the only one. I’m on Erasmus in Sweden right now and I’m strongly considering staying here. Wages are far higher, rent is far lower and the infrastructure in Sweden is light years ahead and if I do a master’s here it’s free. It’s actually heartbreaking that government policy is forcing the younger generations to emigrate.
@Ronan O’Keeffe: I suspect that precisely this mechanism, albeit presumably unintended, is contributing to preventing the implementation of the sort of politics which might change things around, since the people who’d be voting for it are turning their backs on the country in sufficient numbers.
@Ciaran Burke: If you can work remotely move east look at Prague or Budapest tax much lower and straightforward. The cost of living is nearly half. Earn your money here but live somewhere where the quality of life is better and living costs are affordable.
But people leaving the country is going to change anything, people need to stand-up and fight for change. And in terms of property prices and rent, I don’t think Australia would be the best place to go.
@Ciaran Burke: Young people in the rental class don’t vote for FF or FG in big numbers so they literally don’t care. There is no plan for you.
You can either stay and fund the passive income of happy boomer FF/FG voters or leave and be one less vote for change come election time. It’s win-win!
@Shaner Mac: I protested the budgets,I protested the water charges. I’m tired of having to fight for fairness. All I want is a place to call my own somewhere I could start a family and the more I’m looking at it the more I see I can’t do that here in Ireland. I want to be able to earn a living without being price gouged and killed on ridiculous tax bands.
Completely unsustainable yet all the Govt do is implement policies that tinker around the edges and some even make it worse. Another generation will be out of here as soon as borders open up fully again.
This and previous governments are a joke. No forward planning, corruption and wastage of public money the order of the day.
The population is now the highest since the famine is their any educated person that could have predicted well hold we may need to start building again 5 or 6 years ago instead of years of austerity.
We
We now have no housing stock, hardly any apprentices gone through the system to help build these houses and qualified tradesmen like myself seriously contemplating emigrating as the cost of living is a disgrace.
@Ian Noonan: You mean the austerity when our spending was way more than our tax take and we had to borrow from the Troika. Where exactly was the money to carry out a mass building programme going to come from then?
@Ian Noonan: I can’t get tradesmen to even look at work let alone do the work so I can rent out a place. When I do it will cost a fortune so the rent will have to be high to pay for it.
@The next small thing: spending was more because of governments choice to write a blank cheque for banking sector, bondholders should have been burned and value for money infrastrucure and housing projects completed. Housing sector is a shambles, health, public transport outside of Dublin forget about it the list goes on. Hardly any apprentices went through the last decade so know a major shortage of tradesmen, mass emigration over 10 years and once restrictions lift there will be many more.
We need a llanning exemption for people who want to build low impact homes with local natural materials (cob, strawbale, light straw clay, hempcrete, use composting toilets, etc)
“The average rent nationally now stands at €1,516 per month.”
Complete insanity. Entire generations are earning nothing for their future and spend it all just for the basics to survive on a monthly basis.
The work and efforts of the majority are being used to fund the passive income of a particular class in society.
Nothing will change until people change their vote.
Can I ask as I don’t know the answer but why is rental history not taken into consideration when applying for a mortgage or is it now? Surely a person/ couple etc who can show they’re paying €1000 or so a month over a set period of time have demonstrated an ability to pay a mortgage. Paying €1000 plus a month in rent must make it near impossible to save for a deposit.
@Rostyballs78: who is going to say the paid their rent on time? Do you think a landlord wants to vouch legally for a person to get a mortgage? Personally I don’t want to have anything to do with a tenant’s mortgage application.
@Rostyballs78: Most mortgage lenders in Ireland will indeed take rental payments (as demonstrated on your bank statement) as proof of ability to pay, however you will also need to be saving on top of that. I guess from their perspective they need to ensure that if (and when) interest rates do rise, that you have adequate disposable income/buffer, that will enable you to afford the higher mortgage repayments. They also stress-test the mortgage repayments for this by a few percent when calculating your net disposable income which is a key part of a Bank’s underwriting process.
@Craic_a_tower: The tenant shouldn’t need anything from you if the rent is paid by standing order/direct debit, as the record will be on their bank statement, however if you’re receiving rent in cash, you’re legally obliged to provide the tenant with a rent book as record of payments received and dates of same.
Why is it always happening just before Christmas. My heart goes out to all those poor people, specially those with children. What a load to have to carry.
@Anna Carr: are you asking why towards the end of the year after colleges are back there is a noticeable lack of housing when everything to be built is objected to? When the Government were warned of an impending housing crisis the public objected to building incentives because they claimed it was to help their builder friends. The public really hold responsibility here too
@Craic_a_tower: I don’t care who’s to blame. It shouldn’t be happening. The Dáil members spend way too much time debating whose fault it is instead of getting together and fixing the problem.
If the greedy capitalistic landlords were making so much money you wonder why so many have left the market and why there is so few properties there to rent
@Jerry Slattery: I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why landlords leave the market. They took out mortgage during the so called Celtic tiger, now paid off mostly by tenants, money made? Sell off the property now while prices are at a high? Or their kids are now grown up and in need of their own home which they can’t afford, so inheritance used, etc. But flip your question around, why are the majority of landlords not getting out. If it was so bad they would all leave?
@Mick Heery: yes I can prove my tenants failed to pay rent on time several times it will also show fluctuations when deduction were taken from rent to buy things for the property. Records that most tenants don’t keep but will need the landlord to provide this information. Takes time and effort
Well, you have the likes of Varadkar getting away with statements like “one person’s rent is another person’s income”. What was that about, if not suggesting it’s better to allow 1500-2500 rents rather than causing financial hardship to those who won 5-10 houses…
In reality nothing will ever get done, as long as the number of people owning houses (or having paid most of their mortgages) outnumber the ” new entrants” to the housing market, i.e. young people and expats without money. People might fake outrage publicly, but who will protest to have the house prices (and rent prices) halved? Certainly not those who have paid through the nose so far…
No, protests are reserved nowadays for BS issues.
As a student my rent was only 30 quid a week. I got one single bare room, except for a mattress, a sink with a cold tap. Visitors sat on floor. I was pi**ed most of time so didn’t mind living in a s**t h*le
@Alan Campbell: they were all made illegal to rent and they never thought where the people living in them would go. Hence we would need more property just to deal with those people without any increase in population but we did get an increased population. The standard of rentals by law is higher than most other parts of Europe
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