Rents recorded their fastest annual growth rate since 2017 in the third quarter of this year, according to figures from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

The board said that rents across the country in the three-month period to the end of September were up 8.3% compared with a year earlier.

The national average monthly rent stood at €1,397 in the quarter – an increase of €44 compared with the previous quarter.

The RTB says that, compared with the rest of the country, Dublin has seen a greater initial drop and slower rebound in rental-price growth since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandemic effect

“This likely reflects the differing impact of the COVID-19 economic shock on both the demand and supply sides of the market in the short run,” it adds.

While rents did not rise as quickly in Dublin, they were still 3.6% higher compared with the previous quarter – the fastest rate of growth in more than two years.

Padraig McGoldrick (interim director of the RTB) said that rents were increasing more rapidly outside the capital, adding that this could be linked to the continuing effects of the pandemic on long-term working and lifestyle choices.

Uncertainty

The RTB’s rent index, compiled with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), is based on actual rents paid on just over 15,000 private tenancies newly registered with the RTB during the quarter. It does not cover rents paid by existing tenants.

The number of new tenancies registered in the third quarter – usually the busiest period due to the start of the academic year – was up only slightly compared with the second quarter. The figure, however, is down more than 30% compared with the same period in 2019, before the pandemic began.

“These figures show the continued challenges posed by the reopening of the Irish economy,” the RTB says, adding that people may be staying in their tenancies longer, due to uncertainty in the market.