LAST UPDATE | 12 Sep 2024

THE AVERAGE RENT nationally for new tenancies grew by 8.1% in the year to March, while the average rent for existing tenancies increased by 5.9%.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) today released its Rent Index for the first quarter of 2024.

The RTB is the public body responsible for providing reliable data on Ireland’s rental sector.

The quarterly index tracks price developments in the rental market and is based on RTB tenancy registration date that is independently analysed by the ESRI.

Figures from the quarterly index inform when an area is designated as a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ).

These are in parts of the country where rents are highest and rising, and where households have the greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation.

Rents in a RPZ cannot be increased by more than 2% per year.

Carrigaline Local Electoral Area in Cork and the administrative area of Galway County have now recorded four consecutive quarters of new tenancy rent inflation above 7%.

This means both areas now meet the criteria to be designated as an RPZ. 

The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) said it is “concerned” about the designation of additional RPZs and claimed that RPZs “suppress the market, reduce rental supply, drive illegal sub-letting, and ultimately push costs higher”. 

It added that “rent controls, excessive regulations, and restrictive taxes are driving landlords out of the market, worsening the housing crisis”.

The figures published today compare the standardised average rent in Q1 2024 with a similar, but not identical, sample of all tenancies registered in the previous quarter and in Q1 2023. 

However, as the properties in the Rent Index sample are different in every quarter, it cannot show if landlords are complying with RPZ rules. 

To address this, the RTB has asked the ESRI to conduct an additional ‘Individual Property Level Analysis’ to track changes in rent for the same individual properties over time and this report will be published later this year. 

New tenancies data

Rents for new tenancies rose by 8.1% between Q1 of 2023 and Q1 of 2024.

This is down from a record high of 11.3% seen in Q2 of 2023, and also down on the 9.1% increase recorded in Q4 of 2023.

The average rent for new tenancies was highest in Dublin at €2,128 per month and lowest in Donegal at €950 per month. 

In Dublin the annual increase for new tenancy rents was 6.3%, compared with 12.2% outside of Dublin.  

Meanwhile, counties Leitrim and Longford saw the highest growth in rent for new tenancies at 22.6% and 22.5%. 

The IPOA said this highlights that “the presence of fewer landlords in rural areas are driving up rents”.  

Looking at cities, Dublin City had the highest average rent for new tenancies at €2,084, followed by Galway City at €1,720.

Limerick City recorded the greatest annual increase in rent levels, rising by 18.3% to €1,522. 

Existing tenancies

Rents for existing tenancies grew by 5.9% nationally between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024.

The average rent for existing tenancies was highest in Dublin at €1,829 per month and lowest in Leitrim at €726 per month. 

The Greater Dublin Area of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow had the lowest increase in average rents for existing tenancies, up 4.1% from Q1 2023, compared with 5.2% in Dublin and 6.3% outside the Greater Dublin area. 

‘Individual Property Level Analysis’ 

Rosemary Steen, Director of the RTB said the Individual Property Level Analysis gives the RTB “data on landlords who may have breached RPZ rules”.

This analysis uses newly collected annual registrations data to track individual properties over the 2-year period from Q2 2022 to Q1 2024. 

“Where there is deliberate and ongoing non-compliance, we will be using our full powers to investigate and sanction non-compliant landlords,” said Steen.

Preliminary findings from this data shows that nationally, 74% of sitting tenants experienced an annual rent increase of 2% or below over this period. 

Tenants in non-RPZ areas were more likely to see significant hikes in rent and 16.5% of existing tenants in non-RPZs experienced rent increases of 8% or more.

This is compared with 2.8% of tenants in Dublin and 4.8% in other RPZs over the two-year period. 

In Q1 of 2024, rent increased by an average of 1.3% for existing tenancies tracked from year to year in Dublin, by 1.4% in all other RPZs and by 3.5% in non-RPZ areas. 

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has called on the RTB “to ramp up enforcement of Rent Pressure Zone rents caps”.

He said this new data “enables the RTB to determine the level of non-compliance with the rent caps in RPZ.

“The RTB need to write to all of these landlords and establish whether the rent increases above 2% were in line with the rent pressure zone rules and where they are in breach of those rules.,” said Ó Brion.

He added: “Given the pressure on renters from the cost-of-living crisis this matter needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Meanwhile, Labour leader Ivana Bacik remarked that “under this conservative coalition, rents continue to skyrocket”.

“These figures show the stark difficulties and escalating costs facing those who are entering into new rental contracts, and this is exacerbating the homelessness crisis,” said Bacik.

She “urged” the Government to “put the protection of renters at the core of its programme for the remainder of its term”.

“There can be no doubt that those struggling with the unending anxiety of renting in Ireland, and the ongoing fear of eviction, will make their voices heard loud and clear when an election is eventually called,” she added.