‘Renters in Dublin today will pay €12,000 more in rent per annum than they did in 2011’, says Northside TD

Average rental costs for new tenancies in Dublin are now more than the annual income of those on the minimum wage, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan.

“According to the latest report from the Residential Tenancies Board”, the Dublin Bay North TD said.

“The cost of new tenancies increased by 9% nationally in the final quarter of 2021.

“The average cost of new tenancies in Dublin is now nearly €2,000 per month – an increase of 100pc since 2011, when average rents were €985.

“Based on these figures, renters in Dublin today will pay €12,000 more in rent per annum than they did in 2011 – and that’s just the annual increase.

“The average annual amount they will spend on rent in Dublin is nearly €24,000.

“For context, workers on the minimum wage – a paltry €10.50 per hour – earn just €21,840 in a year.

“How are workers on the minimum wage – and there are plenty of them – supposed to survive when average rental costs now exceed their annual gross pay?

“Rents are now unsustainable, not just in Dublin, but all over the country.

“According to the RTB, rents in Roscommon increased by a whopping 25% in the fourth quarter of last year and rents in Waterford were up 24%. I could go on.

“There were double digit rental increases in 14 counties in the final quarter of last year.

“Another alarming figure from the RTB report is that the number of new tenancies, at the end of last year, had dropped by nearly 50pc.

“This indicates that renters are staying longer in their tenancies, given the volatility of the market, and that there has been an exodus of landlords from the market.

“The government has conceded that there is a crisis in the rental market.

“But where is the evidence it is dealing with it?

“The record of this government is clear – the crisis is getting worse. Unless it radically revises its housing plans, this deterioration will continue.”