Fear, worry and powerlessness are words repeated by young renters as they digest the announcement this week of an overhaul of Ireland’s rental market.
Emily Thomas (26) from Kildare rents a one-bedroom apartment in Rathmines, Dublin, with her boyfriend.
“We’re both paying over €1,000 each for that,” says Ms Thomas. “It’s a great location and we feel very lucky to have it but it is quite a financial strain.”
She feels that the new rental reforms are “purposefully complicated” and an ineffective way of tackling the housing crisis.
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The reforms will see a new system of rent controls cover the entire country, including the almost a fifth of renters who live outside the existing rent pressure zones (RPZ), with rent increases capped at 2 per cent. Rent controls for new apartment blocks, however, will be tied to inflation even when this exceeds 2 per cent as part of efforts to encourage construction.
For Ms Thomas, who works in media production, the removal of RPZs for new builds is a “worrying” prospect.
“In previous places that I’ve lived, obviously the RPZs aren’t perfect, but they did provide a certain level of security when I was struggling for rent.”
Expressing a degree of pessimism that is shared by other young tenants, she adds: “I don’t see myself owning a home any time soon. I know I’ll be back and forth between my parents’ house and renting.”
Neasa Nic Corcráin (21), a Trinity College Dublin (TCD) student from Co Wexford, is subletting a room in a friend’s family home in Castleknock, Dublin, for €1,000 a month.
“I was looking at other possible sublets and they would be €1,500 a month,” she says.
She is searching for somewhere else to rent by September. Last summer, she had to turn down job opportunities in Dublin due to the city’s rental market. In what she describes as “a loop of evil”, Nic Corcráin feels this has come at a personal cost.
“I can’t get these cool opportunities that enable me to further my career because I can’t afford to live in Dublin, and if I can’t further my career I can’t earn enough to afford to live here.”
Looking at the rental reforms, she says her main feeling is “fear”.
“From my understanding it gives them [landlords] more incentive to be able to kick people out.
“I’m very worried about how I’m going to deal this coming academic year. I’m on three scholarships and am still kind of struggling to afford stuff.”
Mairéad Hanlon (23), from Leitrim, works in the property sector. Having attended University College Cork, she is now living in Dublin for the first time and is currently subletting in Clontarf.
She is looking for a more secure place to lease long term with her boyfriend.
“I was shocked to see how few bedrooms are available here online even in comparison to Cork,” she says. “The majority on offer are twin or bunk beds, with nine or more to house and [landlords are] still looking for €700 or €800 a month.
“My concern now is that while the State is in a housing emergency and everywhere is in need of rent caps, diluting it will scare current smaller landlords of older buildings out of the market as they feel squeezed.”
She believes the new changes may cause landlords to offer shorter leases to tenants, making their situations more precarious.
“There has to be strong protections in place to protect tenants to ensure the spirit of the reform is achieved, and landlords cannot look to other ways to inspire a tenant to leave.”
Aoife Munday (23), also from Leitrim, is working in law. Having also recently moved to Dublin, she rents “a standard box single bedroom” in Churchtown for €562 per month.
“Most of the places I viewed on Daft were out of my budget and I could only find somewhere reasonable through a friend of a friend.
“I live in a rent pressure zone and that’s probably the main reason why my rent is quite cheap.”
She said the latest changes are “concerning for renting in the future,” adding that “it will probably leave more people staying in their current accommodation”.
The Government says the reforms will offer new protections for renters, highlighting that “no-fault evictions” will be prohibited for tenants whose landlords own four or more properties. Smaller landlords will still be able to evict tenants in limited circumstances, however, such as a close family member needing the property or if they are in financial difficulty.
Anna Winifred is sceptical about such reassurances. She said the reforms would particularly affect young people as they more frequently find themselves in precarious housing situations and often enter new tenancies year on year. “I can’t imagine landlords won’t take advantage of this,” she said.
Ms Winifred pays about €600 a month for a room in Fairview, north Dublin. She sees herself as fortunate to be paying under €750, which she says is the lower end of what her peers pay, although her house is “in dire condition”.
She doesn’t believe the Government is truly prioritising renters’ rights. “All of these reforms are in the hope of incentivising investors to build more new-build accommodation, yet there’s no guarantee that will happen, and it puts people at risk of higher rents,” she says.
Annemarie O’Connor, a recent graduate of modern languages at TCD, has been renting in Dublin since 2021. She feels that she is “lucky to have” a landlord registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and is paying €560 a month for an en-suite room in Drumcondra.
What keeps her “comfortable and reassured” is that “I know legally landlords aren’t allowed to raise the rent by more than 2 per cent a year”, she says.
While she sees herself staying in Ireland “long term”, she feels “abandoned by my government”. Describing the latest announcement as “another dig at Irish youth”, she wonders if she, like others in her demographic, will ever be able to afford a home in Ireland. “Will I have to share a cleaning rota with other housemates for my whole life?”
