7.4 per cent year on year increase in rents in Meath

Rents in Leinster have spiralled to nearly 50% higher than Celtic Tiger peaks according to property website Daft.ie.

The report found that chronic undersupply of rental accommodation is placing further upward pressure on rents.

Average rents for residential properties rose by 5.6% nationally between April and June, according to the latest quarterly rental report from the website.

The report shows rents rising faster outside Dublin and a record low number of properties available for rent.

In Meath, there has been a year on year increase of 7.4%. On a quarterly basis, rents are up by 2.3% to an average of €1,448 in the county.

There were just 308 homes available to rent in Leinster (outside Dublin) on 1st August the lowest ever in a series extending back to 2006 - the pre-Covid average during 2019 was 702.

As of today, Tuesday, there are just 39 rental properties available to rent in Co, Meath via the property website.

The increase reflects an “unprecedented scarcity” of available properties, it said, noting there were just 2,455 homes available to rent on its website on August 1st last, the lowest number since its quarterly series began in 2006.

The report found that the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred on the sharpest year-on-year rise in residential rents across the country since 2019, as the number of units available collapsed to its lowest level on record and "an extraordinarily low figure for a country of Ireland's size."

Outside Dublin, there were just 789 homes available to rent, by far the lowest on record. Prior to 2020, the lowest level had been about 1,500.

On average over the past 15 years, there have been nearly 9,400 homes available to rent at any one time, Daft said, while the 2015 to 2019 average was almost 3,900.

According to the report, the average monthly asking price for rent stood at €1,477 in the second quarter of 2021, up almost 99 per cent from a low of €742 per month seen in late 2011, while the average in Dublin was €2,035.

According to Professor Ronan Lyons, economist and author of the report, the hope for renters and for Irish society is that August will mark the low-point as has been the case in other years and reflecting the timing of leases for the academic year. But the underlying pressure on Ireland's rental system “is intense” and the supply shortages are “chronic and worsening.”

Prof Lyons said the growing population is part of the reason for the demand, along with a lack of new rental accommodation in the last 15 years and warned the lack of availability could make it difficult for students to access accommodation from September.

"Ireland's rental sector has undergone a lost decade and half, with almost no new rental homes built. This cannot be solved by trying to regulate prices. It can only be solved by adding significant amounts of new supply," he said.

He pointed out that the problem was now widespread, and not confined to Dublin.

"Policymakers - and citizens - should be wary of anything that limits the ability of foreign savers to build new rental homes here," Prof Lyons added.

See the full report at www.meathchronicle.ie