Landlords leaving the rental market at 'unsustainable pace'

Sherry Fitzgerald said 30% of their sellers during the first quarter of 2025 were landlords

Sherry Fitzgerald said the trend for landlords to exit the market is exacerbating the challenges in the rental sector. They also point to a shortage of second-hand properties for sale, accounting for only 0.5% of Ireland’s private housing stock. 

Landlords continue to exit the rental market “at an unsustainable pace” with estate agent Sherry Fitzgerald reporting that they made up 30% of vendors during the first three months of the year.

In its residential market review for spring 2025, Sherry Fitzgerald said the continued trend of landlords exiting the market is “exacerbating the challenges which have been present in the rental sector for many years”.

Between January and March this year, only 8% of second-hand home buyers through Sherry Fitzgerald were investors while 30% of those selling were residential investors selling their properties.

Sherry Fitzgerald said the Government must pay “particular attention” to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency in respect of Rent Pressure Zones to increase the stock of rental properties nationwide.

This comes following promises by the Government to review the current rent pressure zone system which include its abolition.

In addition to the exodus of landlords from the rental market, the report highlighted how few second-hand homes there are currently on the market which is making the housing crisis worse.

Research from the estate agent showed that available housing stock has reached an historic low.

“In January 2025, just 10,380 second-hand properties were listed for sale nationwide, representing a mere 0.5% of Ireland’s private housing stock,” the report said.

This severe shortage of housing is driving price inflation across all sectors of the market… The shortage of second-hand homes is particularly pronounced in regional and rural Ireland.

According to the report, the average value of a second-hand home in Ireland rose by 7.5% over the last year.

The report highlighted that last year new dwelling completions fell short of expectations with just 30,237 new homes delivered to the market and while completions so far this year are trending higher, they are still nowhere near the number required.

“There were 5,938 new dwelling completions in the first quarter of 2025, up 2% when compared to the same period in 2024. Despite this positive movement, indicators suggest that completions this year will again fall significantly below the 62,000 required to meet demand in the short-term,” the report said.

The pipeline of new housing delivery is also of concern, the report said. There was a decrease of more than 21% in the total number of units granted planning permission in 2024 to 32,401.

“This was largely due to a fall in apartments being granted permission which declined by almost 39% when compared with 2023. Permissions for houses also declined but at a more moderate 2.7%,” the report said.

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The number of units commenced in the opening three months of the year totalled 2,918, a 76% decline when compared to the same period in 2024. However, it should be noted that that commencement data in 2024 was highly inflated due to various deadlines throughout the year before which developers had to commence construction to avail of levies.

“Given the challenges outlined, and the economic climate, it is likely that completions this year will be in or around the volume seen last year, with a potential for a small improvement,” the report said.