AVERAGE RENT PRICES rose by an average of 1.2% around the country in the three month period between June and September, according to new figures published today.

Four of Ireland’s five major cities have seen an increase in the average listed monthly rent cost compared to this time last year, Daft.ie has said in its quarterly Rental Report.

In Dublin city, monthly rent decreased slightly in the last quarter year-on-year, down 0.8% to €2,028.

However, the cost of rent rose up to around 5% compared to last year in Cork city, Galway city, Limerick city and Waterford city. 

Rent rose by 5.2% to a monthly average of €1,443 in Cork city, and by 5% in Waterford city to €1,058.

Galway city saw an increase of 4.9% to €1,443, while rents in Limerick city rose by 3.4% to €1,260.

The average national increase has offset a decrease of 1.4% seen earlier in the year during the second quarter in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Rental supply in Dublin is almost twice as large as this time last year, rising from 2,700 to 1,400.

However, outside Dublin, rental supply is down by a third and reached its lowest level since 2006 at the start of November at just 1,435 properties available to rent beyond Dublin.

Economist at Trinity College and author of the report Ronan Lyons said that the figures highlight the “importance of supply in bringing about more affordable rents”.

“In Dublin, supply has increased this year, largely due to the impact of Covid-19, and rents are down slightly,” Lyons said.

“Elsewhere in the country, rental shortages continue to worsen and rents continue to rise to all-time highs. Even in Dublin, availability remains below 2006-2007 levels, a time of rental shortages, and at roughly one third the level of availability seen a decade ago,” he said.

“This underscores the importance of significant amounts of additional new rental supply – and not just in Dublin – in solving an issue that was central in the minds of voters earlier this year.”

Sinn Féin spokesperson for housing Eoin Ó Broin said that the new figures showed that the “rental crisis is getting worse”.

“What the Daft.ie data shows is that the rental crisis is getting worse. Rents are too high and in many places are continuing to rise. All the while there is no response from the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien,” Ó Broin said.

Ó Broin said that Budget 2021 including “no action to stop rent rises, no measures to put money back in renters pockets, and no funding to deliver the volume of affordable cost rental accommodation that our cities urgently need”.