Rents for new tenants nationally increased at a rate of 9% in the final quarter of 2021 compared to same period a year earlier, new data from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows.
Around 9,346 new tenancies were registered with the RTB during the fourth quarter of last year, a reduction of 48% from the number of new tenancies used in the Q4 2020 RTB Rent Index.
Dublin and the greater Dublin area (GDA) accounted for more than half (55.2%) of all new tenancy agreements registered during the quarter, and 59.7% of new tenancies were for apartments.
The standardised average rent paid by new tenants in the final three months of last year was €1,415 per month, a decrease of €4 from the previous quarter, but annual growth of 9% in rents outpaced the yearly rate of growth in Q3 (8.8%)
The standardised average rent for new tenancies in house in Ireland was €1,390 for Q4, a drop 0.9% quarter-on-quarter and an increase of 9% year-on-year, while average apartment rents stood at €1,459, an increase of 0.6% from Q3 and 9.3% from Q4 2021.
In Association with
Rents for new tenancies in Dublin (€1,972 per month) were substantially higher than outside the capital (€1,104), with the standardised average rent in new tenancies in the (GDA) standing at €1,393 as of Q4 2021 while it was €1,059 outside the GDA.
Despite the disparity in cost, annual growth was strongest outside the GDA, and the lowest annual growth across the regions for both houses and apartments were recorded in the GDA.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the standardised average rent in new tenancies fell across all regions, dropping 0.8% in Dublin; 1.3% outside Dublin; 4% in the GDA; and 1.7% outside the GDA, likely driven by seasonal factors that affect the third quarter comparison period.
Leitrim had the lowest standardised rent for new tenancies at €740 per month, with rents for new tenants falling in 14 counties during Q4, but most notably increasing 12.6% in Roscommon.
"Today's Rent Index reports on rental price changes in new tenancies and shows continued growth in rents being set for this proportion of the overall private rented sector," said Niall Byrne, director of the RTB.
"We also note a fall in the number of tenancies registered in the quarter. This is likely driven by factors such as continuing constraints on the supply of rental properties and by current tenants choosing to stay longer in their existing tenancies.”
New legislation will require landlords to register all tenancies with the RTB on an annual basis, which Byrne said would provide the RTB with more current data on all rents, beginning next year.
Pat Davitt, chief executive of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers (IPAV), said the "lack of comprehensive data" on tenancies being used to produce the RTB Rent Index would likely lead to the state "learning lessons long after the horse has bolted".
"In this regard in today’s RTB figures the most striking takeaway is the drop of 48 per cent in the number of new tenancies registered year on year in Q4," Davitt continued.
“While the reasons are multi-faceted, including the fact that tenants are staying longer in existing arrangements, we have no doubt that the continuing exit of the private landlord from the market is a major contributory factor.
"With the exit of the private landlord we may be losing lower rentals while new properties coming on the market have no restrictions on the rent levels capable of being charged, they can charge what the market will bear.”
Davitt said IPAV had concluded that private landlords are leaving the market due to higher taxes than those that apply to commercial landlords and excessive regulation.
(Pic: Getty Images)
