15,000 tenancies could be lost if 'exodus' of landlords continues

Marian Finnegan, managing director of Sherry FitzGerald, said the Government needs to provide more clarity on measures to help landlords. 

The rental sector could see a net loss of 15,000 tenancies this year if the trend of landlords leaving the market since January continues, estate agent Sherry Fitzgerald has warned.

In its latest quarterly report, the company said during the first three months of the year, only 13% of people who bought second-hand homes were investors while 36% of people selling their properties were investors.

Sherry Fitzgerald said if this trend persists “we will see a net loss of 15,000 tenancies from the private rental sector in 2023”.

It comes as the company reports that the average value of second-hand homes increased by 0.8% in the first three months of the year and by 3.6% compared to March last year - down from 5.7% at the end of 2022.

Marian Finnegan, managing director of Sherry FitzGerald, said that while Government commitments to provide tax breaks to small landlords in the budget later this year are welcome, “it is not sufficient”.

Exodus

She said immediate action is needed to address the impact of the “exodus” of landlords from the market.

“We urge the Government to provide further clarity on both the proposed tax measures and indeed on proposals such as the tenant-in-situ scheme.” 

Ms Finnegan said the situation is now a “housing emergency” given the challenges facing the residential and rental sector.

On sales this year, she said they've returned to “more normalised levels of growth” following two years of heightened inflation in the post-covid period. 

Excluding block sales and new homes for social housing, there were 59,500 housing transactions in 2022 according to the Property Price Register which is 9% higher than in 2021 and 7.7% higher compared to 2021. 

However, Sherry Fitzgerald said the level of completions in 2022 is unlikely to be matched this year which will impact overall sales.