Laois targeted for action after two years of staggering rent hikes

Rents being charged to new tenants in Laois are second only to Louth when counties with big cities and in the greater Dublin area are excluded, according to the latest figures.

Staggering new details on rents revealed for Laois show that the rents being charged in new tenancies spiralled upwards in the 12 months to the start of April.  

The escalating costs facing tenants hoping to find a new home to rent in Laois is so acute that it has caused the State body that monitors and regulates the rental market to highlight the issue and announce that action is needed to dampen the rising costs. It is hosting a meeting in Portlaoise about rental law and RTB services at the end of September. 

The Rental Tenancies Board (RTB) highlighted several standout issues in the residential rental property market in Laois in a press release to the Leinster Express / Laois Live on local and national trends in the rental market.

Drawing from the RTB / ESRI Quarterly Rent Index Q1 2025, the RTB says average market rents continue to rise for new and existing tenancies around Ireland. While it says, new tenancy rent increases have been relatively stable, trends vary significantly across regions.

Nationally, the standardised average rent for new tenancies grew by 5.5% annually to €1,696 per month. The average rent for existing tenancies grew by 4.4% annually to €1,452. County Dublin saw its lowest new tenancy growth rates since mid-2022 at 3.3%.

Laois is one of eight counties where new tenancies cost growth rose by more than 10%. Laois is the outlier in this group as highlighted by th RTB statement.

"In Laois, new tenancy rents increased by 14.3% to €1,337 per month. The average rent for existing tenancies in Laois grew by 5% to €980," it said.

The RTB report includes a startling rent a new tenant has to pay in Laois compared with comparable counties outside the Dublin, the cities and the Greater Dublin counties. When you exclude these parts of the country, Laois is second only to Louth, which like Laois, is a county where commuters make up a big part of the population. MORE BELOW TABLE.

The RTB commits to action due to consistent rent hikes being charged over the past two years.

"Donegal, Kerry, Laois, Monaghan and Tipperary have now experienced eight quarters of high new tenancy rent increases. Following the national extension of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs), the RTB will target education and outreach activities in these counties," it said.

Figures also published by the RTB show that most of the new tenancies registered are in the Portlaoise Municipal District which is dominated by the county town. The standardised rent for Portlaoise MD was €1,416 in the first quarter of 2025.

Other data published by the RTB gives an insight into new properties coming onto the rental market for private renters and those on County Council Waiting lists. Laois is behind the curve on both.

Nationally, registered private tenancies rose by 3.2% annually in the second quarter of 2025. In Laois, registered private tenancies rose by 2.6% annually to 2,267 to the end of June 2025.

People on council housing waiting lists can rent from an Approved Housing Body. Registered tenancies with such bodies grew by 11.7% nationally to 52,989 to the end of the second quarter of 2025.

Laois lagged in this category, with such tenancies growing by just 4% annually to 1,516 from April to the end of June.

Other data shows that rents for existing tenants have risen by more than 7% for three consecutive quarters in the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District, where the average rent in quarter 1 was recorded at €956. The largely rural district was not a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) when the figures were recorded. Rent increases are capped in RPZs.

The average rent in the Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District was €958 in the first three months of 2025 for existing tenants. Rents had not risen in that district by more than 7% in the previous quarter. 

Meanwhile, in Portlaoise, the rent charged to existing tenants averaged €1,001 to the end of March. Rent in the MD had risen by more than 7% in the final three months of 2024.

Both Port Graigue and Portlaoise are Rent Pressure Zones. 

Just 2% of Ireland's existing and new tenancies are located in Laois.

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Reforms announced by the Government in 2025 to address the housing crisis will cap rents on new tenancies starting after March 1, 2026. Increases will be capped at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or a maximum of 2% in periods of high inflation, unless the property is a new-build apartment. 

All of Ireland will be a RPZ under the same set of changes.

The RTB outlined actions planned in Laois.

"On Tuesday 30th September, the RTB will host an information event on rental law and RTB services in Portlaoise. The event is aimed at organisations and community groups supporting the rental sector, landlords or tenants in Laois. Through the event, the RTB aims to increase awareness of RPZ rules and supports for landlords and tenants in order to drive compliance with rental law.

"In addition to public information activities, the RTB also continues to investigate non-compliance with rental law through its regular programme of compliance and enforcement activities throughout Ireland. The RTB uses a variety of sources to identify potential non-compliance with RPZ rules," said a Statement.

The RTB said it delivered an RPZ compliance campaign that targeted 8,652 landlords who were identified as potentially non-compliant with RPZ rules through an ‘Individual Property Level Analysis’ study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The RTB has commissioned a follow-up ‘Individual Property Level Analysis’ study by the ESRI in 2025. It says it will identify further cases of potential non-compliance for a new national RPZ campaign that the RTB will launch before the end of 2025.

It adds that if a tenant believes that their landlord has breached RPZ rules, they can bring a dispute case to the RTB. Members of the public can also report a landlord for a suspected breach of RPZ rules through the RTB’s website: www.rtb.ie

The RTB Rent Index is produced by the ESRI based on anonymised data supplied by the RTB