Rent for single tenants in this region costing up to 40% of salary

Renters of two-bed apartments in Cavan and Monaghan are spending between 36 and 40 per cent of their salaries on rent.

That's according to new research conducted by the Irish Independent.

According to the latest Daft.ie rental report released in May, the average monthly rent nationwide for a two-bed apartment was €2,176 per month. In Monaghan, rent for the same size of apartment averaged €1,254pm and €1,233pm in Co Cavan.

The difference in rents is not reflected in salaries, however, as the median monthly salary in Monaghan is €3,156 and €3,383 in Cavan, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

That means a single parent or lone renter in Monaghan has to fork out 39.7% of their earnings on rent; while it will cost the same cohort in Cavan 36.4% of their monthly salary.

Nationally, Leitrim fared best. Taking the median gross earnings of €3,430 per month, an individual would spend 37% on a two-bed apartment.

Experts argue that at these rates, single parents on average incomes or anything below will likely be "priced out of the market" unless they share with another earner.

The most up-to-date Daft.ie report saw the largest quarterly rent increase on record when they rose by 4.4% in the first quarter of this year following the introduction of the Government’s new rent control system.

At the start of March, landlords were allowed to increase rents by two per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

The average monthly rent nationwide for a two-bedroom apartment was €2,176 per month.

In the cities, rents were up 18% year-on-year in Galway, 13% in Cork, 10% in Limerick, eight per cent in Waterford and 6.9% in Dublin.

Outside the cities, the rate of rent inflation was close to eight per cent across Leinster, Munster and in Connacht-Ulster. The increase in rents since Covid has been uneven across the country, up 23% in Dublin but 86% in Connacht-Ulster, albeit from a lower base.

The report also showed there were 2,374 homes available to rent nationwide on May 1, which represented a reduction of four per cent from a year previous, but an increase on the 1,200 homes that were available on January 1.

Author of the report, economist Ronan Lyons said: “The analysis showed someone with the average disposable income could afford a room in a shared house by themselves, but not a whole property.

“The lack of rental housing has pushed up the price of rent so much that it is certainly beyond the reach of a single income, and in some cases two of them,” he said.