Cork City had one of the highest rent increases in 2020

There has been a sharp fall in homes available to rent in the country with a drop from 2,000 on February 1 last year to just 1,139 a year later

Research by Daft.ie shows that the average rent nationwide in the final three months of 2021 was 0.9% higher than a year previously. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Renters in Cork City, Waterford and Galway were among the hardest hit with rent increases in 2020, according to the latest market report.

Research by Daft.ie shows the average rent nationwide in the final three months of 2021 was 0.9% higher than a year previous.

Limerick city rents were almost 4% higher year-on-year while Cork city (4.8%) and Galway city (4.6%) saw larger increases. Waterford city was the worst-hit of the countries cities, with rent increases of 5.6%.

In contrast, Dublin rents fell 3.3% during 2020, with rent declines concentrated in the second and fourth quarters of the year.

In the rest of the country, rents rose by 5.4% on average during 2020, with only a slight fall in the second quarter lockdown and an increase during the final three months of the year. 

In the final quarter of 2020, the average monthly rent stood at €1,414, up from a low of €742 seen in late 2011.

There has been a sharp fall in the number of homes available to rent outside Dublin, with a drop from 2,000 on February 1 last year to just 1,139 this month. 

In Dublin, there were 2,600 homes available to rent this February 1, up from fewer than 1,600 on the same date in 2020.

Ronan Lyons, author of the Daft Report, said: “Outside Dublin, Covid-19 has led to a further worsening of supply conditions in the rental market, with the number of homes coming on each month down 17% on already low levels. 

"While demand for rental homes outside the capital has fallen — with the rise in unemployment — it has not fallen as much as supply, pushing rents further upwards.” 

The pandemic seems to have had an opposite effect in Dublin, according to Mr Lyons: “In Dublin, Covid-19 has had the opposite effect, with the number of homes being advertised to rent up 64% on February 1st, compared to a year previously. With the increase in homes being advertised, active demand for homes to rent has also soared, up 40% compared to pre-pandemic.” 

Mr Lyons says rents in Ireland’s main cities are twice than what they were ten years ago: “Rents in the capital — and in Ireland’s other main cities – remain at twice their level a decade ago. The underscores the importance of ensuring the construction of tens of thousands of new rental homes over the coming years, to help bring rents back down to affordable levels.”