Renting a home in Ireland 2020

Renting a home in Ireland is harder than ever in 2020. Both rental and buying costs remain high and affordable supply is still too low. Budget 2021 provides the government with an opportunity to take decisive action and dramatically increase capital spending and the delivery of social and affordable homes on public land. Many newly-listed one- and two-bed apartments are becoming available with the collapse of tourism and the short-term rental market with the spread of COVID-19.

Dublin has once again seen one of the steepest year-on-year increases of rents in Europe, at just over 6%. The increase is partly due to the continuing increase of international companies relocating staff to the city, elevating the demand for expatriate-standard housing.

The increase is partly due to the continuing increase of international companies relocating staff to the city, elevating the demand for expatriate-standard housing.

One of the reasons renting a home in Ireland is harder is that demand has increased. Salesforce and Facebook were among the multinational companies based in Dublin that announced thousands of new jobs for the city last year, with Ireland continuing to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).

Listings on rental websites have skyrocketed with the collapse of the holiday rental market.

IDA Ireland, said nearly 14,000 net jobs were added by multinationals last year. bringing the number of people employed by foreign companies in Ireland to 245,096.

The figures show that the monthly cost of renting a Dublin apartment rose by an estimated €205 year-on-year — one of the steepest increases measured.

It has been reported that Dublin City Council has commenced negotiations to acquire hundreds of long-term leases on apartments in the city for social housing following the collapse of the Airbnb market.

Daft.ie said that rents in Dublin are largely unchanged year-on-year after rising by just 0.2% in the last 12 months to July. Rents in the rest of Leinster and in Munster rose by 3.3% and 2.7% respectively, but fell by 0.6% in Connacht and Ulster.

A recent study by Daft.ie showed a 64% increase in Dublin rental listings in March. Covid-19 policy supports for owner-occupiers and tenants appeared to be behind the lack of drop in house and rent prices.

But this could change in the future. Given the potential for successive waves of Covid-19 in Ireland, this may be tested in the coming quarters.

As it stands, both sale and rental segments appear to have weathered the initial impact of the pandemic and the underlying shortage – especially of rental accommodation – remains.

The industry bounced back following price drops in April

Despite the rising prices in sales and the significant increase of supply in rental, demand for properties in Ireland is strong.

Dublin is n is now the fifth most expensive in Europe for rental accommodation, with the average monthly rent increasing 6% in the 12 months to last September. The 6% rise in rental costs makes the city costlier than other European capital cities such as Paris at €3,461 (USD 3,914), Berlin at €2,354 (USD 2,662) and Madrid at €2,393 (USD 2,706).

The annual accommodation ranking from data consultants ECA International shows that the average three-bedroom apartment in Dublin now costs €3,613 per month, while a similar sized flat in London costs £5,308 (€5,970).

• Dublin saw a steep rise in average rental costs, jumping by €207 on average per month from last year

• Rent in Dublin for expatriates is now on average €3,613 per month (USD 4,086), making it more expensive than many other major European capitals, including Paris and Berlin

• London retains the top spot for most expensive city in Europe for rental accommodation, costing on average USD 2,873 more a month than Dublin

See also

• Renting in Ireland: all you need to know