A new reports predicts rents will continue to rise this year due to a lack of supply.
Latest figures, from the property website Daft, show rents increased nationally by an average of 10 percent last year.
In the last quarter of 2021, the average rent listed nationally was €1,524 a month, while in Cork the average rent has risen by 9.9% in the past year
The average monthly rent in Cork county is now €1,217 euro, which is up 104% from its lowest point, while rents in the City are now at €1,529 a month - up 6.3% from the end of 2020.
Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, says the Government needs to intervene.
“Rents are completely out of control. The meagre measures introduced by the Minister for Housing to address rents have failed completely here in Cork and across the state.
“We have to be honest. An average rent of €1539 is beyond affordable for ordinary working families. Latest CSO figures show that 1 in 5 homes in Cork are being bought by non-owner occupiers. There are serious questions about institutional investment funds buying these homes and charging extortionate rents.
“The private rental sector is now so out of control that people cannot afford to live in Cork city. Rents have been rising year-on-year and rose by 6.3% in the city in the past 12 months. The government’s failure to tackle this proves that they are not serious about ending this Housing Crisis.
“The average rent for a one bed apartment in Cork city is €1087 a month. A mortgage on the same property is estimated at €542 a month. Similarly, two beds are costing on average €1278 a month while the mortgage is estimated to cost €661 monthly.
“What I’m hearing on the ground is that people are being outbid on properties by institutional investment funds and then seeing these same properties advertised for eye-watering rents.
“We are now facing a situation whereby rents are out of control. We have a record-low number of properties to rent in Munster and people cannot afford to buy. The Housing Crisis is worsening.
“Yesterday marked 2 years since the last General Election when people came out and voted for change. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael banded together to stop that change and rents continuing to spiral out of control is just one of the devastating consequences of that.
“The government need to listen to Sinn Fein now. They need to freeze rents for 3 years and put a month’s rent back into renters pockets in the form of a tax credit. Change is coming and a Sinn Fein government would give renters a break.”
