A new report on the rental market shows that a lack of supply is driving up the cost of renting a home.
The latest Daft Rental report indicates that rents in Cork City have risen by 9.1% in the last year.
The average rent is now €1524. In the rest of Cork, rents were on average 13% higher in the second
quarter of 2021 than in the previous year.
In July, new legislation linking rent increases to the rate of inflation was introduced in a bid to curb rising rents.
But, Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft report, says attempting to ban rent increases won't actually solve the problem.
"What we need to do instead is to get new rental homes built.
"If you look at Ireland in the last 10-15 years there have effectively been no new rental homes built in that period, yet there are about 50% more people renting than 15 years ago.
"That of course is going to put pressure on the rental market, and that's where policy makers should focus their efforts - on getting new rental property built, not just in Dublin but around the country."
