Annual rent increases by 18.5 percent in Mayo

The average rent in Mayo is now above €1,000 according to the latest Rent Index produced by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The latest rent index shows that the Standardised Average Rent for new tenancies Mayo now stands at €1,019 which represents an annual increase of 18.5 percent. Only Co Longford which has an annual rent increase of 27.4 percent has seen a higher percentage increase in the average rent for new tenancies.

The Standardised Average Rent for existing tenancies in Mayo is €816, an increase of 7.8 percent.

According to the report the average rent for new tenancies in the Castlebar Electoral Area is €1,094 and €901 for existing tenancies. This is the highest in Mayo followed by the Ballina Electoral Area which has an average rent of €975 for new tenancies while the average rent for new tenancies in the Claremorris Electoral Area is €960. No figures are available in the report for the other electoral areas in Swinford, Westport and Belmullet.

Commenting on the report which was released on Thursday, Mayo Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh said that the 18.5 percent annual rent increases in Mayo show that the longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in government, the worse things get.

“Today’s report from the RTB showing massive increases in rents is shocking. Families, workers and young people deserve and need affordable housing and affordable rents. Sinn Féin’s proposal to cut rents and freeze them would have prevented these massive increases in rents.

“The average rent in Mayo is now above €1,000 for the first time, for contracts signed this year. They have increased over 18.5 percent in just one year. That is the second fastest rate of increase in the state.

“The situation isn’t much better for renters staying in the same property - with rents up 7.8 percent. That would be illegal in most parts of the country, but so far the Government will only allow a limit on rent increases to Westport. Even this small measure was the result of political pressure.

“This is simply unsustainable. When will it end? Renters in Mayo cannot keep taking these kinds of rent hikes. They need a break,” she said.

The Erris-based TD accused the Government of not caring about renters and called for a ban on rent increases for existing and new tenancies and for the Government to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing.

“They [Government] tell us they are making an impact on housing. Unfortunately, that impact is just putting affordable housing and affordable rents further out of reach for people. No wonder so many young people are emigrating – they simply cannot afford this level of rent.

“Government also needs to increase and accelerate the delivery of social and affordable homes, including cost rental homes, so that renters are not left at the mercy of an expensive and insecure private rental sector.

“The longer Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in Government, the worse things get. Nowhere has this been more evident than from this report that shows massive rent increases over the last 12 months.

“Only a change of government, a change of housing policy will allow us to start cleaning up the mess of decades of bad Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael housing policy,” she claimed.