There was an almighty jump in rents while everyone waited for price controls

Cork and Galway have had their biggest increases in at least 10 years.

Updated 10.25am

RENTS ROSE AT the fastest rate since the boom times in the months before the government’s much-heralded measures to rein in inflation were introduced.

It comes as the Dáil will hear proposals to declare a national housing emergency.

The latest report on the rental market from Daft.ie showed prices jumped 3.2% in just three months to the end of September, the biggest quarterly increase since early 2007.

Daft Report author and economist Ronan Lyons said the figures suggested that the market had reacted to the talk of rental controls in government circles.

Average prices in all Ireland’s major urban centres went up over the three months, including a 7% hike in Cork and 6% rise in Galway. Lyons said they were “by far” the largest quarterly increases for the cities in the 10-year history of the data.

“Ultimately, while controls on rent increases may help those at risk of becoming homeless, they do nothing to help those already homeless,” he said.

The much more pressing issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of supply, which ultimately depends on the cost of construction.”

90399587 Alan Kelly and Michael Noonan announce rent control measures last week Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

The Anti-Austerity Alliance’s private members bill calling for a national housing emergency to be declared will be heard in the Dáil later today.

The TDs say this is response to the hundreds of families having been made homeless in recent years, the growth in social housing waiting lists, and spiralling rents.

They also want to recognise that the current government ”has provided the least council housing of any Government in the history of the State”.

Among the measures the AAA wants to be considered are:

Reverse of the rent supplement cuts that have taken place
Legislate to ban all economic evictions and repossessions where the sitting tenant has no alternative accommodation
Maintain rent controls linked to the Consumer Price Index and back-date to 2011 levels to bring rents down to affordable levels
Provide a sufficient number of Nama hotel rooms for emergency accommodation
Reduce the official definition of housing affordability from 35 per cent of household income to 20 per cent

Last week the government announced a two-year freeze on rents and a 90-day notice period for any rent increases among a string of new control measures, which Environment Minister Alan Kelly had been pushing to include in October’s Budget.

However in its latest post-bailout monitoring effort, the IMF criticised the stabilising attempts as potentially deterring much-needed construction that would boost housing supply.

The Daft figures showed there were the fewest properties available for rent nationwide since the tally was first compiled in early 2006. Rental stock had dropped to just over 4,000 homes, down from the previous low of 4,340 earlier this year.

LEAST_MOST_EXPENSIVE_2x Daft.ie Daft.ie