Ireland’s rental market tightened drastically in early 2026, with nationwide rents climbing up 4.4% in 2025 in the middle of record-low supply, according to the most recent quarterly Rental Report from residential or commercial property portal Daft.ie.
The report, authored by Ronan Lyons, professor of economics at Trinity College Dublin, reveals market leas sped up from a 3.6% boost in 2024, continuing a long-lasting upward trend. Rents have actually now risen in 13 of the past 14 years, standing 34% above pre-Covid levels and almost 80% higher than a decade ago.
The average monthly lease for a two-bedroom home across the country throughout the final quarter of 2025 reached EUR2,086, reflecting relentless pressure on cost in among Europe’s the majority of supply-constrained housing markets.
Schedule plunged to extraordinary lows. On February 1, 2026– just days before new nationwide rent-control steps worked– less than 1,800 homes were listed for rent across the nation, a 22% drop from the very same date in 2025 and the most affordable February figure since records began in 2006.
The capture was especially serious in Dublin, where listings fell more than one-third year-over-year, pushing the average two-bedroom house rent to EUR2,438 (with city-center properties approaching EUR2,700 in some reports).
Outside the capital, rental inflation showed even sharper in Ireland’s other significant cities throughout the fourth quarter:
- Galway: Up 11.4%, average two-bedroom lease EUR2,113
- Cork: Up 7.5%, typical EUR2,013
- Waterford: Up 6.9%, average EUR1,525
- Limerick: Up 5.0%, average EUR2,127
In non-urban areas, annual boosts hovered around 6% in Leinster and Munster, and 5.1% in Connacht-Ulster.
Lyons attributed the worsening shortages partially to “prevalent unpredictability” surrounding approaching reforms to lease controls, which changed localized Lease Pressure Zones with a nationwide system efficient March 1, 2026. The modifications cap annual boosts at 2% (or the lower CPI inflation rate) for brand-new tenancies and present other occupancy securities, but do not use retroactively to existing leases.
“Extensive unpredictability about the new lease controls appears to have worsened continuous supply shortages in the rental market,” Lyons wrote. “It remains to be seen whether supply is holding off till new occupancy terms been available in on March 1st or whether the modification in lease controls has actually led to an additional decrease in the stock of rental homes, as property owners offer up.”
The data highlight Ireland’s persistent rental imbalance, where demand far overtakes supply in spite of moderating inflation rates compared to pandemic-era peaks. With schedule now roughly two-fifths of the 2015-2019 average in many areas– and far lower outside Leinster– experts alert that underlying pressures point to continued upward momentum in 2026 unless new building accelerates significantly.
