Just 32 properties available to rent across the county

Just 32 properties were available to rent in the whole county last week, while the average rent in the county rose by over five per cent in the last 12 months, it has been revealed.

A shortage of supply is being blamed for the increase in rents not just in Meath but across the county.

A search of property website Daft.ie on Friday showed there were just 32 properties being advertised for rent across all of County Meath. Of these, just seven were available in the Navan area, three in the Kells area and none in Trim.

There were two properties in Ashbourne and two in Dunboyne while Dunshaughlin had three properties offered for rent.

Meanwhile, the latest rental report by daft.ie showed that the average rent advertised in Meath during the third quarter of this year was €1,473, up 5.7 per cent on the same quarter last year. It is also an increase of 1.8 per cent on the second quarter. However, it still comes in behind the average rent for the country which was €1,517.

The average price for renting a one-bedroom apartment in the county was a staggering €1,053 while a four-bedroom house was an average of €1,558, according to the report.

"The figures in this latest Daft.ie Rental Report confirm a return to the pre-Covid-19 situation of weak supply in the face of very strong demand, due to underlying economic and demographic growth," said report author Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin.