TD expects eviction ‘tsunami’

Rent in Cork city is up almost 15% in the last year with the average rental coming in at just under €1,800 a month.

Figures released this week in Daft.ie’s price rental report for 2022 showed 131 homes were available to rent in Munster on February 1 this year, compared to an average of almost 1,700 on the same date during the 2010s.

In Cork city, rents have risen by 14.9% and the average rent is now €1,768. In the rest of Cork, market rents were on average 9.1% higher in the final quarter of 2022 than in 2021. The average listed rent is now €1,327, up 123% from its lowest point. Nationally, market rents in the final quarter of 2022 were an average of 13.7% higher than the same period a year earlier, as availability of rental homes remained near an all-time low.

In the 12 months to December 2022, the rate of inflation in Dublin was 13.1%, Cork city was 14.9%, Limerick city was 18.9% and Waterford city was 20.2%.

Speaking in the wake of the report, Socialist Party TD for Cork North-Central, Mick Barry, said rents are rising 4 times faster on the open market than they are for sitting tenants, showing the need to extend rent controls.

Deputy Barry said: “Local authorities need to now purchase every home put up for sale by landlords exiting the market. This would prevent tenants being evicted into homelessness and act to slow the rate of rent increases in society.”

He also highlighted the report's findings that the median average age of young people leaving the family home had increased by nearly 50% in the space of a decade.

Deputy Barry continued: “It's incredible that it now costs well over €20,000 to rent for a year in Cork city. Landlords are using the open goal the Government gave them - the open market loophole - to just bypass the Government's rent controls, and it's clear that young people are the big.”

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, said soaring rents plus the imminent lifting of the eviction ban is “bad news” for many families and individuals across Cork.

“As we face the prospect of a tsunami of evictions, with the lifting of the ban, renters were hoping for some good news. It is clear that the Government have completely failed to get to grips with this crisis,” said Deputy Gould.

He added: “When people working in well-paid jobs cannot even begin to consider renting, there is a huge problem.

“The reality is that without increased supply, without making social housing and homeownership a reality again, rents will continue to rise.”