€1,011 average rents in South Kilkenny rents among highest in the country

Rents in south county Kilkenny are the highest in the country outside the commuter belt of Dublin and a handful of places in Cork, Galway and Limerick.

The exceptionally high average monthly rents paid in the Piltown Local Electoral Area(LEA) makes it the latest to be designated a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) by the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

People in the Piltown municipal district are paying on average €1,011 per month on rent, higher even than rents in Kilkenny city (€1,003). With its addition to the list, Piltown joins the Kilkenny LEA on the RPZ after its designation earlier this year.

When an area is designated an RPZ, rents cannot be increased by more than 4% per annum on both existing and new tenancies.

The €1,011 paid in the Piltown LEA is one of the few areas outside the Dublin commuter belt (Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth) where average rents fetch over €1,000 per month.

In fact outside the city of Dublin and its commuter belt, parts but not all of Cork and Galway city, Adare in Limerick, Kinsale and Carrigaline in Cork, and Oranmore in Galway – the Piltown area has the highest rents in the country.

The municipal district extends from the Rower across to Ahenny and all along the borders of Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford. The total population of the area is around 21,000 and takes in centres such as Mooncoin, Ferrybank, Kilmacow, Slieverue, Mullinavat and Piltown.

No reason has been given as to why the rents are so high in this area.

In contrast, rents in the Castlecomer LEA stand at just €792 and in the Callan- Thomastown LEA at just €752.