RENTS INCREASED BY €60 IN THE LAST YEAR

THE average rent for properties in the private rented sector has increased by €60 in Co Wicklow in the past year.

New figures released by the Residential Tenancies Boards (RTB) reveal that the average rent paid was €952 in the first quarter of this year – an increse of €17 when compared to the average rent paid in Q4 of 2015 and a jump of €60 on Q1 of 2015.

This data comes from the latest RTB Quarterly Rent Index which is compiled by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) for the Board and relates to dwellings registered with the board.

It is the most accurate and authoritative rent report of its kind on the private accommodation sector in Ireland and is based on the actual rents being paid, according to the RTB’s records, as distinct from the asking or advertised rent.

This latest rent index shows that rents across the whole country continued to increase in Q1 of 2016, when compared with Q4 of 2015, although the rate of growth slowed in most sectors in the first quarter. At a national level, monthly rent levels rose in Q1 of 2016 (up by 0.5%) when compared with Q4 of 2015. This compared to a growth rate of 1.6% in Q4 of 2015. Monthly rents for houses were marginally lower, by 0.3%, while rents for apartments were 1.8% higher than in Q4, 2015.

‘ The trend in recent indices has been upwards, and that growth continued in Q1, 2016 with rents nationally now €73 a month higher than the same period in 2015,’ said Rosalind Carroll, Director of the RTB. ‘However, it appears that the rate of growth is slowing.

‘While it is too early to make any real deductions from this, this is the second quarter in succession that we have seen growth slow,’ she added.