Average monthly rent in Kildare is nearly €2,000 - report

Market rents in Dublin's commuter counties rose 4.8% year-on-year, compared to a rise of 7.5% in 2023,  according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie, down slightly from the 6.8% increase seen in 2023.

In Kildare, market rents were on average 5.2% higher in the final three months of 2024 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1,966, up 44% from the level prevailing when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred.

The on-going increase in rents reflects very tight availability, with just 280 homes available to rent on February 1st, down almost one third year-on-year and almost 40% below the late 2010s average.

Nationally market rents rose by an average of 5.7% during 2024, according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie, down slightly from the 6.8% increase seen in 2023. The average open-market rent nationwide in the final quarter of the 2024 was €1,956 per month, up marginally quarter-on-quarter and 43% higher than before the outbreak of covid19.

Commenting on the report, its author Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said:

“An acute shortage of rental housing continues to plague the market, driving rents in the open market further up and creating a wedge between those that get the benefit from rent controls and those that don’t. Rents for movers have increased by almost half since rent controls were tightened in 2021, while rents for ‘stayers’ have risen by just seven percent in the same time.

As the rental crisis enters its second decade, significant reform is needed to rent controls both to avoid a situation where the pressure in the market falls disproportionately on some renters and, more importantly, to ensure that new supply comes on stream over the coming years. Rising rents are a signal of a shortage of rental housing. The ultimate solution to that shortage is to ensure new rental housing is built. This must be central to housing policy for the new government.”



Inflation in market rents in Dublin continues to converge with rates seen elsewhere in the country. In the capital, rents in the final quarter of the year were 4% higher than a year earlier, while outside Dublin, they were 7% higher on average – the smallest gap in almost two years. But significant differences around the country remain. In Cork and Galway cities, rents rose by 10% during 2024, while in Waterford city, they rose by 7.4%. In Limerick, however, inflation remains very high, with market rents increasing by 19% during 2024. Outside the cities, rents increased 6.2% on average.

While the availability of homes to rent improved during most of 2023 and 2024, especially in Dublin, in recent months, the number of homes available to rent on the open market has fallen. On February 1st, there were fewer than 2,300 homes available to rent across the country, down one quarter on the same date a year previously and well below the 2015-2019 average of almost 4,400.  

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