IF YOU’RE BEING asked to pay more rent than you were this time last year you’re not the only one, especially if you’re living in Dublin.
Fresh figures from the Private Residential Tenancies Board show that average rents nationwide at the end of June were 2.6% higher than they were at the same point last year.
The real change is being felt in Dublin where the private rental market has seen a 10.5% price increase.
The jump is even more acute if you’re renting an apartment, a sector that has seen a 12.1% rise. The price of house rentals is up by 8.5%.
Outside of Dublin prices are also greater, but only marginally. Compared to the second quarter of 2013, rental prices beyond the Pale were up by just 2.6%.
Average rent
The PSTB say that the average monthly rent in Dublin is now €1,275 for a house and €1,134 for an apartment.
Outside of the capital this decreases dramatically to €793 for a house and €858 for an apartment.
The rent index section on the PRTB website has more specific details about different rents by location and property type, but Anne Marie Caulfield is in no doubt that rents are beginning to become unaffordable.
“The rate of rent increase is worrying in that it is impacting on affordability, especially in Dublin,” she says.
The PRTB will be submitting a strategy for the private rented sector to the Minister in the near future, which will examine measures to increase supply, improve affordability and ensure that standards are adhered to.
The PRTB index has also noted that Ireland’s rental market has doubled in size between 2006 and 2011. In the second quarter of this year alone there were 25,500 new tenancies registered with the board.
Caulfield says that the PRTB index serves an “important role” in tracking special housing figures. It shows that there are 77,000 rent supplement tenants living in the private rented sector as well as 36,000 tenants who avail of the rental accommodation scheme.
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