Kilkenny tenants now paying €930 a month

RENTS in Kilkenny soared by almost 10% in the year to September 2018, with no slowdown in sight.

The average rent in Kilkenny city and county now stands at €930, a new nationwide rental survey has found.

The 9.4pc rent rise in Kilkenny for the period is lower than the national average of 11.3% recorded in the latest Daft.ie survey. Overall rents have soared to an all-time high of €1,134 – €304 most expensive than they were during the Celtic Tiger years.

In Dublin, rents continue to advance in double digit figures, up by 10.9% in the year to September 2018. This means rents in the capital are now 36%, or over €520 a month, higher than their previous peak a little over a decade ago.

The rate of growth is even higher when you move outside Dublin. In Limerick city, rents were 20.3% higher than a year ago at €1,131, while in our neighbouring county Waterford, rents rose by whopping 19.7% to €955.

Galway saw its rents increase by 16.1% in the same period to €1,226, while in Cork, rents rose by 13.7% to €1,301. Outside the five main cities, rents rose by an average of 10.6%.

The least expensive place to rent is Leitrim, with average rents of €577; this compared to the €2,156 tenants have to fork out every month in south county Dublin.

The author of the Daft.ie report, Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons, said: “The latest figures, showing a further strong rise in rents around the country, may not be surprising. Nonetheless, the condition of the private rental market remains a cause for huge concern, with very strong demand not being met by supply. A comparison of the country’s households and its dwellings reveals an acute shortage of apartments, not family homes. However, the recent increase in residential construction is being driven by estate houses, not apartment schemes. Dramatically increasing the construction of urban apartments, for both market and social housing sectors, must become the priority for policymakers in 2019.”