Northside rents surge

A NEW report that confirms Northside rents surged during 2017 has been met with dismay by housing and homeless groups.

The Daft.ie survey reveals that the average increase across the city was 10.9 per cent, but the North City was hit with an 11.8 rise.

Rents in the city centre went up by almost 13 per while in the North County, the cost was 10.5 per cent higher in the year to December 2017.

The average North City rent is now €1,709 while those wishing to live in the city centre will have to pay an average of €1,869. 

Rents in the capital are now 26 per cent, or almost €380 a month (€4,500 a year), higher than their previous peak in 2008, according to the Daft.ie report.

There were also fewer than 1,350 homes available to rent in the city on February 1 this year, compared to almost 6,700 on the same date in 2009.

Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft Report, said 2017 marked the fourth consecutive year of double-digit gains in rents nationwide.

“The underlying pressure for rising rents remains due to a chronic shortage of available rental accommodation, at a time of strong demand,” he added.

“In some segments in Dublin, rents have now doubled since 2010. Rents have been rising in the capital twice as long as they fell – and indeed twice as long as the last market upswing.

“With at least 40,000 new homes a year needed to meet underlying demand, but well below 20,000 homes built in 2017, it remains the priority for policymakers to bring construction costs down in line with affordable levels.”

Responding to the report, housing charity Threshold said stronger policing and extension of Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) legislation was essential in lowering rent inflation.

“Where there is compliance with Rent Pressure Zone legislation, we have seen decreased inflation in a squeezed rental market,” said Threshold Chief Executive, John-Mark McCafferty.

“Continued policing of this legislation, coupled with nationwide roll out of RPZ controls, would be an effective step in bringing price stability into the rental market.”

“Significant rent increases were reported in the commuter counties around Dublin, for example in Meath, where rents are up 80 per cent since 2011.

“This spike is replicated in other counties surrounding Dublin and is evidence of the staggering unaffordability of rental property for many households in the region.

“Threshold is worried that this is the beginning of a gentrification trend, like that of London, where only the most well off can afford to live in Dublin.

Dublin North West TD, Noel Rock (FG) who tabled a rent transparency bill last June is calling for “real transparency” to determine what rate rents are rising both in existing and new tenancies.

“The bill I tabled in the Dáil on this matter could have one of two outcomes; it could vindicate the Government position and show that rent pressure zones and rent certainty is working, or it could highlight that there are some who are not complying with the RPZ legislation – which in itself would be a problem,” he said.

“In either event, it’s important the Government acts to bring about certainty – and that’s what my bill would do.”

However, Fianna Fáil General Election Candidate in Dublin North West Cllr Paul McAuliffe accused the Government of “misleading people” and warned that Dublin rent prices have reached a level that they are now out of reach for most people.

“Every week, more and more people contact me in fear of no longer being able to meet their rental payment or struggling to find somewhere with affordable rent,” he said.

“While the Government’s HAP and rent supplement schemes are short term solutions for families in need of housing, there is a knock on effect of increasing average rents in the private rental sector.

“Unless there is a dramatic increase in the supply of housing, those living and working in the capital will have no alternative but to go back to living with their parents or move further away from their place of work.

“The Government is misleading people with its target of 50,000 new social housing units when only 27,000 of them will actually be new direct build homes.

“Meanwhile we are still waiting on an affordable rent building project that the Government first announced in 2015.”

AVERAGE RENTS

In Dublin 9, one-bed apartments are up 12.5 per cent to an average of €1,351. A two bed house jumped by 11.5 per cent to €1,550.

In Dublin 7, the new Luas line has helped fuel an 11.8 per cent increase on one-bed apartments, which are now fetching an average of €1,432. A two-bed house in the area is up 10.7 per cent to €1,642.

Dublin 11 rents are also up but by less. A one-bed apartment now fetches an average of €1,235, up by 9.3 per cent with rents on two-bed houses increasing on average by 8.3 per cent to €1,416.

In Dublin 15 the cost to rent a one bed apartment is now €1,213, up 11.7 per cent and two-bed houses are renting at €1,392, an increase of 10.7 per cent.