New rents in Westmeath rise by 18% in a year
The average rental price for a new tenancy in Westmeath went up by almost 18% in the past 12 months.
That's according to the Residential Tenancies Board's (RTB) latest quarterly Rent Index report, which revealed that the average rental price for new tenancies in Westmeath in the fourth quarter of last year was €1,011.57 compared to €858.56 in the same period in 2020, a 17.8% increase and the fourth biggest jump in the country. Nationally, there was a 9% year-on-year increase, the highest since the final quarter of 2017.
Westmeath is now one of 13 counties where the average price of a new tenancy is over €1,000.
The highest standardised average rent in new tenancies for Q4 2021 was in Dublin at €1,972 per month while the lowest monthly rents were in Leitrim, where the standardised average rent in new tenancies stood at €740 per month.
The number of new tenancies registered with the RTB in the final quarter of last year was 9,346. This represents a decline of 48% compared to the same quarter in 2020.
Niall Byrne, RTB Director, commenting on the release of the RTB Q4 2021 Rent Index said:
“Today's Rent Index reports on rental price changes in new tenancies and shows continued growth in rents being set for this proportion of the overall private rented sector. We also note a fall in the number of tenancies registered in the quarter. This is likely driven by factors such as continuing constraints on the supply of rental properties and by current tenants choosing to stay longer in their existing tenancies.”
He continued:
“On 4 April 2022, new legislation was introduced requiring landlords to register all tenancies with the RTB on an annual basis. This is a significant change for the residential rental sector and for landlords. One of the public benefits from annual registration will be to provide the RTB with current data on all rents which will enable us to publish more detailed reports on rents and rent levels, for both new and existing tenancies, beginning, we expect, in 2023. The current Rent Index can only report on movements in rents for new tenancies registered with the RTB. With access to annual registration data, the RTB will be able to identify new rental stock that hasn’t been let previously, the type and size of landlord of this stock, the stock leaving the sector and the type and size of landlords associated with this, and, very importantly, rent levels in all existing residential rental stock."