Rents in Waterford City have risen by 11.3% in the last year and the average rent is now €1191. In the rest of Waterford, rents were on average 13.2% higher in the final quarter of 2021 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1178, up 104% from its lowest point.
“This is a phenomenal increase and is a massive additional cost for workers and families to bear; on top of rapid increases in household bills,” Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane said following the release of the report.
Nationwide rents in the final quarter of 2021 were an average of 10.3% higher than the same period in 2020, according to the latest Rental Report by daft.ie. The average monthly rent nationwide between October and December was €1,524, up 3% on the first quarter and double the low of €765 per month seen in late 2011.
The sharp increase in rents around the country reflects a worsening of the unprecedented scarcity of rental homes. Nationwide, there were just 1,397 homes available to rent on February 1, a new all-time low in a series that extends back over 15 years to January 2006.
phenomenal increase and is a massive additional cost for workers and families
The recent fall in homes to rent reflects a further tightening of supply in Dublin, where just 712 homes were available to rent on February 1, less than one quarter of the average seen for February over the last two decades.
Outside Dublin, supply improved marginally between November and February but with just 685 homes to rent, availability is less than one third of the pre-pandemic level of February 2020 and one twentieth the level seen a decade ago.
Regional trends in rents point to a readjustment in rental demand. While rents in Munster, outside its three main cities, had seen some of the strongest growth in recent quarters, Dublin is now seeing the fastest percentage growth in the country.
Rents in the capital rose by 4.1% between September and December, compared to just 0.5% in Munster – a reversal of the situation in the second and third quarters of the year.
Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft Report, said: “The strong rebound in economic activity, as public health restrictions relax, has translated into a strong demand for rental accommodation. Coming at a time of very weak rental supply, this has pushed rents up further, with inflation at its highest rate nationwide since early 2018.”
