Average cost of a rental home in Cork city is €1,629 per month

Cork TDs are calling for a ban on rent increases as recent reports show the average cost of a rental across the county is up by almost 5% and the average cost of a rental in Cork city is now €1,629 per month.

Sinn Féin Cork South-Central TD, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and his party colleague, Sinn Féin Cork East TD, Pat Buckley, are urging the Government to consider implementing a ban on increasing rental prices for up to three years.

Their call comes following the publication of the latest Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) report.

Data from the report shows that the average cost of a rental in Cork city is €1,629 per month, with the average cost across the county amounting to €1,479 per month. This represents an overall increase of 4.4% on the average cost of a rental for new tenancies across Cork for Q1 of 2025, in addition to an increase of 3.1% on the average cost of a rental for existing tenancies for the same time period.

Mr Ó Laoghaire said that an average rent of €1,629 in Cork city is “not normal”.

“This is an eye-watering sum and beyond the reach of so many people,” said Mr Ó Laoghaire.

“The latest RTB figures show that rents for new tenants across Cork rose by 4.4% in the last 12 months, and 3.1% for existing tenants. Tenants are paying more and more in rent, and it’s a rip-off.

“Once again, [the Government is] making life harder for renters, who now have even higher rents and even greater insecurity.

“How are regular working people expected to afford these rents, [and] how are they supposed to save for a deposit to buy a home?

“We need to cut rents and ban increases for three years. We need to give young people and people across the board a chance.”

Mr Buckley said that this increase is putting “further strain on renters who are already struggling with the ever-rising cost of living”.

“People in Cork deserve stability, but instead they are being priced out of their own communities,” he said.