{"id":458136,"date":"2026-05-20T09:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/458136\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T09:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T09:30:14","slug":"cork-renters-hit-hard-as-ireland-sees-biggest-price-spike-in-25-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/458136\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork renters hit hard as Ireland sees biggest price spike in 25 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first report released after changes to rental<\/a> rules earlier this year shows the biggest spike in prices in more than two decades. Irish renters have been hit hard by the change, which has seen prices increase as much in the first three months of the year as they did across all of 2025.<\/p>\n

Nationwide rental prices increased by 4.4% in just three months as landlords used the new system to reset rents to market rates. Previously, rents could be increased only by a set amount between tenancies, which led to prices climbing at a slow, steady rate.<\/p>\n

Now, landlords can increase rents by an unlimited amount between tenancies, with the trade-off that renters get greater security with a six-year rolling tenancy. During these tenancies, rents can only be increased by a set amount, and the changes aim to increase supply in the long term. You can read our full explainer here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Market rents in the four big cities – Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway – are now 64% above pre-covid levels and more than double (110%) that of their Celtic Tiger peak. The average cost of a two-bed apartment in Cork city now sits at \u20ac2,103, leaving someone working full-time at minimum wage with just \u20ac56 to cover all their remaining monthly expenses.<\/p>\n

The cost of renting a room in Cork city now sits at around \u20ac757, excluding bills. However, if you want a double room with an ensuite, the price climbs up to an average of \u20ac940.<\/p>\n

Excluding Dublin, Cork and Galway are the hardest hit of the major cities, with prices across several property types increasing by double-digit percentages. Here in Cork, the price of a one-bed apartment has risen by 21.3% in the past year, and the rent on a two-bed home has risen by 19.3% during that same period.<\/p>\n

The report also highlights continued stagnation on the supply side, with just over 350 rooms available to rent across the four major cities as of May 1. Between 2015 and 2019, around 550 rooms were typically available for rent, with today’s figures representing a drop of around 36%. Around 4,800 homes hit the market across these four cities in the last year, which is almost half the historic average. However, these figures have remained relatively unchanged year-on-year.<\/p>\n

Looking outside the city, property prices in Cork have continued to rise, but there remains a stark difference in overall price. The rents on both two-bed apartments and four-bed homes each increased by 19.3% to an average of \u20ac1,745 and \u20ac2,446, respectively. The biggest jump was in five-bed properties, which saw prices rise by a staggering 26.7% over the past year.<\/p>\n

Families who need the space have been hit hardest outside the city; but even those looking for a studio apartment will be paying comfortably over \u20ac1,000 per month.<\/p>\n

This morning, opposition politicians have slammed the Government in response to these price hikes, describing the new rules as ‘disastrous’ for renters. There have been renewed calls for a ban on rental increases and no-fault evictions following the report’s publication.<\/p>\n

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne TD said: \u201cThis report makes for grim reading \u2013 especially for those who are desperately trying to find a home to rent. The impact of these new rent rules has been nothing short of catastrophic, all across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe average rent for a two-bed apartment is \u20ac2,600 in Dublin; nearly \u20ac2,300 in Galway, nearly \u20ac2,200 in Limerick and more than \u20ac2,100 in Cork. Who can afford these kinds of extortionate prices? These rent hikes are going to lead to a tsunami of evictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis government has turned a housing crisis into a housing disaster and now a social catastrophe. The rationale for the government\u2019s policy change doesn\u2019t stand up. They say they want to boost supply to reduce rent prices. But, cities outside of Dublin have seen supply increase in the past year \u2013 and, in Galway, for example, rents have risen by a whopping 18% in that period.”<\/p>\n

These new rental rules aim to increase housing stock in the long term. While at this early stage, landlords have taken advantage of the rental reset rules, there has not yet been enough time to determine if the policy has had an overall impact on supply.<\/p>\n

Deputy Hearne continued: \u201cThe Social Democrats and other Opposition parties warned the government this would happen. But they didn\u2019t listen, and now renters are left picking up the pieces. This government must now act quickly to try to dull the hugely negative impact of their own rent hike laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey must introduce a three-year ban on no-fault evictions, and a ban on rent increases, before prices go any higher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first report released after changes to rental rules earlier this year shows the biggest spike in prices…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[94110,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-458136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-housing-and-accommodation","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}