Laois rent rises joint slowest in country but new renters hit hard

The average monthly cost to new tenants of renting a home in Laois grew to over €1,100 but the annual rate of increase is the slowest in the country but the report also reveals that new tenants are facing much big rent hikes than existing renters.

That's according to the latest Rental Tenancies Board (RTB) report which reveals that rents charged to sitting tenants in the county are among the highest in Ireland. 

The new quarter 2023 Rent Index Report from RTB finds that new Laois could expect to be asked €1,136 on average to rent a home by the end of June this year. That was up 11.4% in the quarter to the end of March and 8.3% higher than a year previously. The national average is €1,550 and is €1,178 outside the greater Dublin area.

 The RTB found that the lowest growth in the standardised average rent in new tenancies was in Laois and Waterford. Laois is one of 19 counties have standardised average rents in new tenancies above €1,000 per month.

The new rent index includes figures for existing tenancies around Ireland for the first time. 

The RTB has found that sitting Laois renters had the 10th highest rent at the end of June this year but they face smaller rents and rises than people already renting.

The RTB reported that the standardized average rent in existing Laois tenancies was €936 by the end of quarter two. The national equivalent is €1332 while the rate excluding the greater Dublin area is €973. There was a 2.6% quarter-on-quarter rise on average for existing tenants in Laois while the annual rise was 4.5%.

The rent by Laois electoral area are as follows:

• Borris-In-Ossory-Mountmellick - €871
• Portlaoise €1,126
• Graiguecullen - Portarlington - €916

Speaking on the publication of the report, the Director of the RTB, Niall Byrne commented: “The production of an index that can track rent developments in all rents across the private rental sector is a major step forward. Information is now available for sitting tenants which was not available in the previous Rent Index Reports. The RTB, in conjunction with the ESRI, is committed to publishing, and further developing, the new tenancy and existing tenancy rent indices. Over time, these indices will provide strong evidence and deeper insights into the private rental sector for the benefit of policymakers and the public.” 

“The RTB is committed to ensuring compliance with rental law, particularly the requirements to register tenancies and to set lawful rents in Rent Pressure Zones.  These commitments are set out in the RTB’s Statement of Strategy 2023 -2025. The data now available to the RTB as a result of the requirement to renew tenancies annually provides very important information which the RTB can now use in planning its compliance and enforcement activities,” he said.

The RTB claims its Rent Index Report is the most accurate and authoritative report on the private rental sector in Ireland. It says the purpose of the report is to measure changes in the rents faced by tenants in new and existing tenancies.  The requirement to renew the registration of tenancies with the RTB, introduced in April 2022, now provides a very large sample size containing improved, and more reliable, data. It says this makes the RTB Rent Index Report the only comprehensive data source on quarterly developments in rents for both new and existing tenancies.