Rents in the county continue to increase
Picture Denis Minihane.
Rents in County Roscommon continue to rise, according to the latest Daft rental report which was released today.
In the county, market rents were on average 8 per cent higher in the final three months of 2024 than a year previously, the report found.
The average rent was €1,361, up 91 per cent from the level prevailing when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred. There were also the highest average rents in Connacht outside of Galway City and County.
In the final months of last year, the average monthly rent for a one bed apartment in the county was €847, a 7.4 per cent increase. A two bed house cost on average €997, while a three bed house cost €1,186, with both property types seeing increases in rent. A four bed house cost €1,290 per month in rent, a 4.4 per cent increase, while a five bed house cost €1,430 per month on average, a 4.1 per cent increase.
In Connacht, market rents rose 6.7 per cent year-on-year, compared to a rise of 14.7% in 2023. The on-going increase in rents reflects very tight availability, with fewer than 200 homes available to rent on February 1st, down one quarter year-on-year and just one third of the late 2010s average.
Rents in Galway City continue to be the highest with an average rent of €2,197 per month. In County Galway, the average rent was €1,610 per month, in County Mayo it was €1,322, €1,344 in County Sligo, and €1,187 in County Leitrim, which had the lowest average rent.
Commenting on the report, its author Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said:
“An acute shortage of rental housing continues to plague the market, driving rents in the open market further up and creating a wedge between those that get the benefit from rent controls and those that don’t,” said Prof Lyons. “Rents for movers have increased by almost half since rent controls were tightened in 2021, while rents for ‘stayers’ have risen by just seven percent in the same time.
“As the rental crisis enters its second decade, significant reform is needed to rent controls both to avoid a situation where the pressure in the market falls disproportionately on some renters and, more importantly, to ensure that new supply comes on stream over the coming years. Rising rents are a signal of a shortage of rental housing. The ultimate solution to that shortage is to ensure new rental housing is built. This must be central to housing policy for the new government.”
