There has been a sharp increase in rent prices despite new measures in place to cap prices in rent control areas.
This has led to questions around whether landlords are fully complying with the new measure to curb the cost of living crisis.
The average rent for a new tenancy is currently priced at €1,574 per month.
That means that rent prices have risen a shocking 11.6% in the past year, despite most of the country being covered by Rental Pressure Zones (RPZ), as reported by the Irish Independent.
Under the RPZ measures, rents are not supposed to rise more than 2% a year, however, rent prices this year have risen over 5 times that amount.
The average rent price for sitting tenants has also risen, currently at €1,332, which is a rise of 5.3% in the past year.
According to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), this is the highest recorded cost of rent since the RTB began recording costs in 2007.
There is also a gap of €242 between new and existing tenants, which has caused controversy in itself.
Sinn Féin spokesperson for housing Eoin Ó Broin called the rise in rent for new tenants “staggering”, as well as the gap between new and existing tenants being unacceptable.
Lucia Cremin, deputy director of the Residential Tenancies Board said that the board hopes to further enforce the measures of the Rental Pressure Zones.
“We will step up the enforcement of rules on rising rents now that we have data for the first time on existing rents.
“We will step up compliance. That is a key part of the programme.”
The rising costs in rent and living has subsequently seen many Irish people emigrate to countries like the UK, Australia, and Canada for a better quality of life.
According to CSO figures, “In the year to April 2022, the UK experienced strong migration flows. Estimates have shown that 14,200 persons left Ireland to live in the UK.”
The CSO also estimated that from April 2022-April 2023, 4,700 people left Ireland to live in Australia.
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