Average rents above €1,000 a month in 16 counties, with jumps in Cork, Limerick and Kerry 

In Cork, the most expensive place to rent was in the area of Cork City South-West, with an average rent for new tenancies at €1,576 per month.

Rental inflation is at its highest level since 2017, with the national average for new tenancies standing at €1,544 a month in the first three months of this year, new figures show.

The Residential Tenancies Board’s Rent Index for the first quarter 2023 show the price of new tenancies is 8.9% higher than the same period last year, with new rents in Dublin now a staggering €2,102 per month.

Just under one in 10 (8.6%) of the 14,085 new tenancies in January, February and March saw tenants signing up to rents of €2,500 a month or over, the figures show.

“The data for the first quarter of 2023 show strong growth nationally in the rental prices of newly registered tenancies,” the report said.

“After a rapid increase in the pace of rental inflation for new tenancies throughout 2021, inflation rates, while remaining high, somewhat levelled off in the first three quarters of 2022 before rising again in Q4. 

"In Q1 2023, the annualised rental inflation has once again increased, and is now the highest it has been since Q4 2017.” 

Geographical divide

There was a sharp geographical divide in rental costs, with Dublin far and away the most expensive place to be a tenant in Ireland.

The local electoral area of Killiney-Shankill had the most expensive rents for new tenancies in the country, at an average of €2,486.

The average rent for a new tenancy in Cork City was €1,490, while it was €1,341 in Limerick city, €1,535 in Galway city and €1,171 in Waterford city. 

The cheapest part of the country to rent a home was Lifford-Stranorlar in Donegal, with the average price of a new rental at €686 per month.

In all, 16 counties have average rents above €1,000 a month, with the annual rise sharper in some areas. 

In Cork, rents for new tenancies rose 4.1% in the year, but rose 10.5% in Limerick and 13.1% in Kerry. 

The largest annual rise was in Roscommon, which rose 23.7% to €955 a month. In 15 counties, rents rose by 10% or more in the last year.

In Cork, the most expensive place to rent was in the area of Cork City South-West, with an average rent for new tenancies at €1,576 per month.

Rent pressure zones

Rent pressure zones were introduced by the Government as a means to limit the rate of annual increases tenants can be charged on their rent. 

Under current legislation, rents cannot be raised above general inflation, or by 2% per year pro-rata in cases where inflation is higher. The RTB said 53% of the local authority areas in the country were now designated as rent pressure zones.

In a statement, the RTB stressed its index was not meant to indicate the level of rents being paid by existing tenants but the price of new tenancies registered during the period in question.