Demand for rental accomodation soars in Dublin as landlords exit

Data from myhome.ie show demand up by more 50% in some parts of capital last year

Demand for rental accommodation in Dublin increased by 13 per cent last year, but there was a significant decline in the number of private landlords in the market, new data from property website myhome.ie shows.

The data follows a separate report from daft.ie this week which said the number of homes available to rent in the capital has fallen close to historic lows, while rents had increased sharply.

Daft.ie’s rental price report for the final quarter of 2021 show there were just 712 properties available in Dublin, the lowest level since its records began in 2006, and less than a quarter of the average rental stock available in February over the last 20 years.

The data from myhome.ie shows demand for rental accommodation increased in 16 out of Dublin’s 22 post codes last year, in some cases by more than 50 per cent.

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Furthermore, the figures back the central contention of the daft.ie report regarding a reduction in the number of available properties to rent. It shows that properties uploaded to its website from private landlords declined by 39 per cent last year.

Nationally, inquiries for rental accommodation increased by 11 per cent last year compared with 2020, with a significant spike observed between October and December.

MyHome.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times, said there were no statistically relevant changes outside Dublin in the data. However, in the capital, demand increased most in Dublin 10, which encompasses Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard, where there was a 62 per cent increase in the number of inquiries for rental accommodation.

The next highest increase was in Dublin 20, which encompasses Chapelizod, and Palmerstown, where it rose by 54 per cent, followed by Dublin 2, which takes in most of the city centre south of the river Liffey, where it increased by 44 per cent.

Among other post zones, the increase in demand was most dramatic in Dublin 1 (43 per cent), followed by Dublin 18 (30 per cent), Dublin 24 (30 per cent), Dublin 22 (28 per cent), Dublin 14 (26 per cent), Dublin 5 (24 per cent), Dublin 17 (23 per cent), Dublin 8 (22 per cent), Dublin 9 (14 per cent), Dublin 4 (12 per cent), Dublin 6 (7 per cent) and Dublin 6W (1 per cent).

The data also shows that demand for rental properties dropped in six post codes. The biggest drop was in Dublin 11, which encompasses Finglas and Jamestown, where it was down 130 per cent.

Elsewhere, it was down by 30 per cent in Dublin 13, by 20 per cent in Dublin 3, by 17 per cent in Dublin 15, by 12 per cent in Dublin 16 and by 3 per cent in Dublin 7.

The daft.ie reports noted that rents in the capital rose by more than 4 per cent in just three months at the end of last year, to an average of €2,258 in the south of the county and €1,897 in the north. This was the fastest quarterly increase in seven years.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter