RTB report reveals rents in Dublin are down slightly

The Residential Tenancies Board has just published its quarterly rent report which covers the period from April and June 2020.

The report, compiled in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), is based on actual rents paid on 16,857 tenancies registered with the RTB in the quarter.

It is made up of homes new to the rental sector, new tenancies in existing housing stock and renewals of existing tenancies.

According to the report the standardised average rent in Dublin now stands at €1,709 and €928 outside of Dublin.

Compared to the previous quarter, rents outside Dublin increased by 0.3%, while they decreased by 1.5% in Dublin.

On an annual basis, Dublin experienced no growth, while rents outside Dublin grew by 3.4%.

Padraig McGoldrick, Interim Director of the RTB, commented on the latest Rent Index findings.

“It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the rental sector,” he said.

“Annual growth has moderated and rent levels have slowed compared to Q1 2020.

“There are considerable changes across the country with the Greater Dublin Area (excluding Dublin) seeing the greatest adjustment in prices with rents falling by 3.7% between Q1 and Q2 and Dublin experiencing no growth on an annualised basis.

“We’ve also seen further moderation with 13 counties having lower rents in Q2 2020 than Q1 2020.”

The highest standardised average rent was in Dublin at €1,709. The county with the lowest standardised average rent was Leitrim at €599 per month.

Conor O’Toole, Senior Research Officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute added:

“The economic shock associated with the pandemic has been the sharpest and most rapid in living memory.

“These economic adjustments are beginning to feed through into the rental sector with rental inflation moderating across the country.

“The drop in inflationary pressures has been strongest in the Dublin area which is the country’s largest rental market. It is likely that continued downward pressure will be exerted on rents in the short term as the economy continues to struggle under COVID-19 conditions.”