Tenancies increase by 2.4% in Co Cavan – new RTB report
New tenancies in Co Cavan increased by 2.4% in the last quarter of 2024, representing a year-on-year change of seven per cent.
The figures are contained in the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) quarterly update, published last week.
In Co Monaghan, new tenancies increased by 1.7%, a year-on-year change of 15.1%.
By comparison Co Leitrim saw a 12.5% increase, representing a year-on-year change of 25%; Meath was up 4.4% in the quarter, or five per cent for the year as a whole.
Meanwhile, Co Longford recorded a decrease in new tenancies of 1.4% over the quarter, computing to an 11.2% year-on-year change.
Nationally, the report highlights that private tenancy numbers rose by 7.6% annually to 240,964 in the fourth quarter of 2024; while private landlord numbers rose by 4.5% annually to 105,594.
Approved Housing Body tenancies grew by 14.5% to pass 50,000 for the first time; while fewer landlords are ending tenancies to sell. A total of 16,546 Notices of Termination were received by the RTB in 2024, down 13% on 2023. Of those, 9,170 or more than half (55.4%) were issued as the landlord intends to sell.
The report also points to the national standardised average rent increase of 6.4% annually for new tenancies to €1,693 per month in the third quarter of 2024, and by 4.7% annually for existing tenancies to €1,429 per month.
Dispute processing times reduced by 30% to seven weeks for mediation cases; 26% to 17 weeks for adjudication cases; and by 48% to 15 weeks for tribunals in 2024.
Meanwhile, Athlone LEA in Co Roscommon has met the criteria for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
This means that rents cannot be increased by more than two per cent on existing tenacies in this area. Consequentially, emails issued to 8,652 landlords associated with 16,052 tenancies of concern. As a result, 2,993 landlords have contacted the RTB and 300 have corrected their rent to date.
Some 170 cases were escalated for formal compliance and investigation, and within three months €35,000 in overpaid rent was returned to tenants.
Rosemary Steen, director of the RTB, added: “This information may challenge some common narratives on the housing sector but it is based on current data from the RTB’s national register of tenancies and from RTB administrative datasets.
“Tenancies that are not captured in this data are unregistered tenancies, and those landlords are breaking the law. We continue to target non-compliant landlords through our ongoing compliance work and two significant registration and RPZ compliance campaigns.”
Elsewhere, Emer Morrissey, Head of Compliance and Enforcement with the RTB highlighted the “seriousness” that the RTB takes when it comes to failures to comply with rental law.
“In 2024, we worked to build our capacity to identify non-compliant landlords at scale through data sharing with government departments and agencies such as Revenue, and through commissioning new research,” she said.
“This data has informed two recent large-scale campaigns targeting failure to register and breaches of RPZ rules. Where we see deliberate and ongoing non-compliance following education and engagement, we are committed to using our full powers under the Residential Tenancies Act to investigate and sanction landlords.”