Renters paying average of €1,820 per month in Dublin

Kilkenny, Clare, Galway, and Mayo all saw rents grow by over 10% in the last year.

Rents outside Dublin rose by 7% in a year, with the average renter now paying over €1,000 per month in seven counties outside the capital.

The latest quarterly Rent Index from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) showed that tenants in Cork, Galway, Kildare, Limerick, Louth, Meath, and Wicklow are now paying above €1,000 each month in rent, while the highest standardised average rent was in Dublin, at €1,820 per month.

However, the quarterly report, covering the first three months of this year, showed the county with the fastest growing rents was Kilkenny, at 12.3% year-on-year growth. Clare, Galway, and Mayo all had annualised growth above 10%.

The report indicates a rental market in which tenants are still paying out large sums in a shrinking market, with a decline in the number of tenancies registered with the RTB in the first quarter of this year (15,532) versus the last three months of 2020 (16,235).

Regional variations

There are still regional variations, with the highest standardised average rent in Stillorgan standing at €2,378 per month, and the lowest in Lifford - Stranorlar in Co Donegal, at €566 per month.

However, annual growth was recorded across 25 out of 26 counties in the latest report, with the national standardised average rent at €1,320, an increase of €33 compared with the figure in the last quarter of last year.

Padraig McGoldrick, interim director of the RTB, said the rise in rental prices outside of Dublin may indicate a trend of people moving out of the capital as the pandemic continues to impact the employment market.

"Q1 2021 was a period in which the Irish economy experienced a strict lockdown stemming from the spread of Covid-19, which impacted unemployment and had a knock-on effect on the rental sector," he said.

Urban areas

Dublin accounts for more than three-quarters of all tenancies but average rents rose by just €8 in the first quarter of this year compared with the last quarter in 2020, and apartment rents fell year-on-year by -0.1%.

It was a different story in other urban areas. Galway City had the second-highest standardised average rent level at €1,301, while the comparable figure in Cork City stood at €1,291 per month, and €1,056 in Limerick City.

The year-on-year growth rates in Cork City and Galway City were 5.9% and 10.5%, respectively, with rents in Waterford City and Limerick City increasing by 7.1% and 8.1% year-on-year, respectively.

Meanwhile, Focus Ireland is calling for a review of rent limits for rent supplements to ensure the most vulnerable people are protected as Ireland begins to exit the pandemic.