Rents in mayo 36 higher than a year ago

THERE were fewer properties available to rent nationwide on May 1 than at any point since 2006, according to the latest quarterly rental report by Daft.ie.

There were just 4,300 properties available to rent nationwide in early May 2015, compared to 7,200 on the same day a year previously. The figure for May 1 is the lowest since the series was started in January 2006; the highest was in mid-2009, when there were almost 24,000 properties available to rent nationwide.

In Mayo, rents were  on average 3.6% higher in the first three months of 2015 than a year previously. The average advertised rent is now €549, a fall of 20% from the peak.

The national average rent between January and March was just over €960. That’s 8.2% higher than at the same point last year, however it is down from the 10.4% increase in mid-2014.

Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, economist at TCD and author of the Daft report, said: “Over the last 10 years, the number of households renting has grown rapidly but a renter today finds themselves with less choice on the market than at any other time since 2006. This extreme shortage of supply is at the heart of not only rising rents and house prices but also issues around working homeless, student accommodation shortages and a lack of options for those in mortgage arrears.

“Solving the lack of housing will require initiatives to moderate the high cost of building homes in this country and completely reforming the way social housing is funded.”