According to the latest Daft.ie Rental Report Q3 2022, market rents in Q3 2022 were 14.1% higher on average than the previous year. The average market rent nationwide between July and September was €1,688 per month, up 4.3% from the second quarter and 120% higher than the low of €765 in late 2011. The 14.1% annual inflation rate is a record high in the Daft.ie Report since 2006 and the quarter-on-quarter increase is also a new series high. The rate of inflation was higher in the cities of Dublin (14.3%), Cork city (12.1%), Galway (16.4%), Limerick (16.7%) and Waterford (17.4%). The shortage of rental homes nationwide, with only 1,087 homes available to rent on November 1st, is driving the increase in market rents. Rents paid by sitting tenants have increased by 2.5% over the last 12 months and 17% since the introduction of Rent Pressure Zones in 2016, compared to the 75% average increase in open-market rents over the same period.
According to the report’s author and Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, Ronan Lyons, the best solution to high rents is an increase in supply. He warns that if the government scraps the build-to-rent classification system, they must have a plan to deliver tens of thousands of new rental homes in major cities this decade.
