Ireland's "frenetic" rental market may stop multinational companies from setting up here as employers struggle to house their staff, a leading estate agent has warned.
Clare Connolly, of Clare Connolly Estate Agents in Dundrum, Dublin, said companies all over the world have been contacting her. She said she has "never experienced a rental market like it ever in Ireland".
"I have never experienced this in my entire career. Corporate clients are desperately trying to secure a property. I have received enquiries and calls from South Africa, the US, France and India.
"I am genuinely sad for people who are in this awful predicament. Buying or renting a home should be a momentous and happy occasion but for so many it is anything but."
Ms Connolly said many landlords are moving out of the rental market to help family members who cannot afford rent.
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"I receive at least five or six emails a day from prospective tenants asking if I have any properties to rent.
"These are mainly from tenants who have to vacate a property where the landlord is selling, or where a landlord is moving in a family member.
"The inherent problem, as we know, is the rental supply. A Daft.ie report last week showed there were just 900 properties to rent in the entire country with rents hitting a five-year high - an unprecedented situation. To address the supply issue, we need to build more affordable homes, plain and simple. This is the bottom line," she said.
"We have to remain attractive to international corporations with enough suitable accommodation, while at the same time provide housing for people who are working tirelessly to put a roof over their heads. It can't and shouldn't be an either-or situation," she added.
The rental crisis for multinationals is not new. In 2015, PayPal Ireland boss Louise Phelan said the company was asking staff to offer rooms to new employees who could not find homes to rent. Seven years on, multinationals are still struggling.
Dublin-based property solicitor Cora Sherlock said yesterday that she is aware of multinationals renting out whole buildings for workers, which is adding to rental pressure.
