Rent costs continue gradual rise, but still below pre-Covid levels

Private rents continued their gradual rise in January.

Residential rents continued their marginal increase last month, but are still significantly down from the beginning of the Covid crisis, CSO figures show.

Private rental costs crept up by 0.3% in January, on a month-by-month basis. October was the last month to see a monthly drop in private rents, when prices fell by 0.5%. But that was followed by no movement in November and a 0.4% increase in December.