Chronic shortage in houses in private rental sector

are simply unaware that it is in Ireland’s rental segment — not its sales segment — where the country’s housing woes are concentrated.

“ e lack of awareness of just how grim things are includes, it must be said, some local authorities and some national policymakers.

“In the past year or so, various e orts have been taken to limit, not increase, the construction of new rental homes.

“ is is, by any accounts, an extraordinary turn of events.

“Between 2015 and 2019, a time when supply was very weak relative to demand and pulled up rents, there were typically yp to 3,800 homes available to rent at the start of February,”he said “ e average for February 1 over the full period 2006-2021 was 8,500. is hopefully puts into context just how bad things are if there are only 1,100 homes on the market [to rent],” said Mr Lyons.

“Secondly, the Covid-19 blip is obvious in Dublin: as [the] lockdown kicked in, listings increased - and indeed at their peak in the year to early 2021, there were more rental listings then than in 2015. But the blip was just that — a temporary reversal of a longerterm trend.

“And as of early 2023, Dublin appears as starved of rental homes as any other part of the country.

“While politicians prefer to focus on a ordability, the link between housing prices (sale or rental) and incomes, there can be no affordability without viability.

“And without viability, we will see further increases in market rents — on top of the 13.7% increase in market rents recorded in 2022,” he said.