'This has to change': Average monthly rent in Cork exceeds €2,000 

Renters in Cork city are now paying an average of just over €2,000 each month.

According to the second-quarter report by property website Daft.ie, rent in Cork city has increased by 11.9% in the past year — making Cork one of four Irish cities recording a double-digit increase in the average rent.

The situation in the rest of the county is somewhat better, with an average 8.7% increase recorded in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2023.

The average rent in the rest of Cork is now €1,533. This is up 47% on the monthly rent payable when the covid pandemic hit in early 2020.

The rising rents in Cork city and county reflects a nationwide upward trend, where market rents rose by 2% in the second quarter alone.

This is the 14th successive quarter in which rent has increased, and the 45th time rents have hiked in the last 48 quarters.

According to the Daft.ie report, the average open market rent was €1,922 per month, up 7.3% year-on-year and 41% higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

Associate professor in economics at Trinity College in Dublin and the author of the Daft.ie report, Ronan Lyons, said that there had been a slowdown in inflation in open-market rents between mid-2022 and mid-2023, and this had been driven by the construction of significant numbers of new rental homes in the Dublin area.

“This most recent report suggests that, even in Dublin, improvement in the availability of rental homes is stalling,” he said. “Without new rental supply, it is likely that future pressure on rents will be upward, further straining affordability for those on regular incomes.”

A 'wild statistic'

Cork North Central Solidarity/People Before Profit TD Mick Barry described the figures in the Daft.ie report as a “wild statistic”.

“That’s more than €24,000 per year, which is more than the take-home pay of many young workers,” he said.

“The Government refuses to bring in real rent control, the Government refuses to give the green light for social housing on a massive scale which would reduce rents.

“It’s a landlord’s Government, and it’s got to go.”

According to the Daft.ie report, there were 2,000 homes available to rent across the country on August 1. The number available to rent in Cork city on August 25 was 48, while there were a total of 95 homes available for rent throughout the county.

According to Laura Harmon, Labour Party councillor in Cork City South West and a Dáil candidate for the party in Cork South Central, the high rents in Cork were making it impossible for many people to save for a mortgage.

“With rents increasing and house prices having increased by 8% last year and set to increase by a further 4.5% this year — average working people are being completely priced out of a future,” she said. “I have four younger sisters, and three have left Cork and Ireland because they see no future here — this has to change.”