Finding suitable rented accommodation in Cork proving difficult for many

Earlier this year, Limerick man Derek Daly moved to Cork to start a new job.

Despite extensive research online using resources such as Daft.ie, the 28-year-old was unable to find suitable accommodation and was forced to temporarily stay with friends living in the area.

Four months later, Derek has still not been able to find a house to rent.

He said any properties in his price range are either too dilapidated or are gone before he can arrange a viewing.

“It’s not like I’m just coming down here for the craic, I got a job. Lucky enough I had friends I could stay with.

“I told them it would just be a few weeks but I’ve been staying with them ever since because I haven’t been able to find a house,” he said.

“I feel like I’m imposing now at this stage. They say they don’t mind, they’ve been really great but, at the same time, you just want your own place.”

During his search for accommodation, Derek found three others looking for a place in Cork City and decided to try and move in with them if a place became available.

So far, none of them have been successful in securing a house they can afford to rent.

“They’re all living at their family homes in Cork but are looking to move out. All three are working in the city but are having to commute.

"Two live in Cobh which isn’t too far but the third is in Buttevant and has to drive at least an hour in and back each day. Longer going home,” said Derek.

“In the last three months, we’ve found only four places online that seemed like nice places and were affordable. We went to view them and wanted to take two of them. The first one we made an offer but the landlord refused us. They said they wanted an older crowd of people in the house.

“Landlords can just pick and choose who their tenants are because there’s such a demand for houses.”

In addition to searching online, Derek visited a number of property agencies to see if they could help.

He said: “We couldn’t find anything online so we went into a few different property agencies but they were really unhelpful. They said they had nothing and just told us to keep checking Daft.ie. To be fair, there was one agency that was really helpful, but the rest of them weren’t.

“It’s crazy. We all have jobs, we all have money coming in, but we just can’t find a place to live.”