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Rental Market gone insane!!!

  • 02-02-2007 2:30pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭


    What is the story with the demand for apartments to rent in Dublin?
    My boyfriend and I are looking for a one-bed apartment around the south city/suburbs. We've been on the hunt for about three weeks now and it's a nightmare!
    The letting agents keep arranging open viewings so any time we go to see a place there's a queue of about 20 people waiting outside to see it too. Then you have to give your references and hope and pray that you get picked. It's seriously demoralising! I'm starting to feel like an X Factor reject!
    Half the places we've seen are complete kips anyway and the nice ones are out of our price bracket. A friend of mine is moving out of his one-bed apt soon for which he has been paying 1100 a month. I called the letting agent to enquire about it and they're raising the rent to 1300!! It's a one-bed for the love of god!!!!!
    I'm starting to get seriously worried that we won't find anything and end up back in some dive like I used to live in at college (when we were too drunk or broke to care!)
    Has anyone had the same experience? Is it better to actually register with a letting agent or just keep looking at daft etc? Any suggestions would be very welcome!! :confused:


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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,693 ✭✭✭tHE vAGGABOND


    Interesting post, other people on this forum would have it be known that the rental market in Dublin is knackered and that is a sign the end of the world is nigh :D

    All you can do is to keep trying, its like being a student again, have the deposit available to you, so you get snap up that great place once you see it at very short notice :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 48 Stinkerbelle


    I hear ya, we finally got offered a place yesterday after four hard weeks and seeing roughly 20 propertys.

    It's crazy out there at the moment. My advice would be to keep daft.ie open, refresh every so often, send an email immediately selling yourself, call straight away, fax your references before you go(if with an angency), turn up extra early (somehow someone will always be there before you), tell them you are very interested, follow up with an email possibly. The waiting to get picked didn't work for us in the beginning so then we had to stick our head out and say PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE US A BREAK.

    Also, always ask them if they have anything else coming up, try get friendly with the agents, explain your situation. I did started to do that this week and felt like I was getting somewhere but thankfully got offered somewhere in the meanwhile.

    We were even starting to run into the same couples at viewings....awkward!!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    Well a lot of investors seem to be selling up so this reduces supply of all apartments , also there seems to be a lot less one beds in city centre than required. I think this is more like "one bed apartment rental market going insane" than the wider market going insane although rents may also be rising in other areas of market due to the investor sell up temporaily reducing supply. Why not rent a small house close to city?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭Cheese Princess


    I hear ya, we finally got offered a place yesterday after four hard weeks and seeing roughly 20 propertys.

    It's crazy out there at the moment. My advice would be to keep daft.ie open, refresh every so often, send an email immediately selling yourself, call straight away, fax your references before you go(if with an angency), turn up extra early (somehow someone will always be there before you), tell them you are very interested, follow up with an email possibly. The waiting to get picked didn't work for us in the beginning so then we had to stick our head out and say PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE US A BREAK.

    Also, always ask them if they have anything else coming up, try get friendly with the agents, explain your situation. I did started to do that this week and felt like I was getting somewhere but thankfully got offered somewhere in the meanwhile.

    We were even starting to run into the same couples at viewings....awkward!!


    Good advice! I think we need to be more pushy - we've been showing up early and telling them how interested we are...maybe a sly 50 into the letting agents hand might be the next step!
    Some places are being let before they even have the viewing which makes me wonder if people are offering cash before they've even seen the place.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,029 ✭✭✭shoegirl


    There has always been a chronic shortage of 1-bed units in Dublin. Last time I rented one of these (c. 2001) it was going at 600 pounds a month - about 760 euros. At the time the average industrial wage was around 2/3 of what it is now, so relatively, rents have gone up by around the same amount in this sector.

    Much of the traditional one bed units are found and demanded in tradional flatland urban regions where rents are much higher to start with. Go out to Balbriggan or Kildare and this kind of unit beceomes a lot cheaper. (Better still, Fermoy, where I saw one advertised for 350 euros a month a few weeks ago!)

    You also tend to find very high rents in unit types for single people living alone - bedsits, studios, artisans dwellings etc. Again reason is that they only make up a tiny proportion of the available housing stock, yet the biggest growth area is one-person households.

    Another issue is that the rent allowance brigade particularly target one person units and stay there for dear life because its much harder for them to find anywhere else. (They also tend to hog the cheaper units since they cannot afford the dearer ones, you'll find a lot of them who've been in the same place for 6-10 tens and more).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 48 Stinkerbelle


    Good advice! I think we need to be more pushy - we've been showing up early and telling them how interested we are...maybe a sly 50 into the letting agents hand might be the next step!
    Some places are being let before they even have the viewing which makes me wonder if people are offering cash before they've even seen the place.

    as in being 'let' on daft before a viewing. i noticed that, but after speaking to a few agents/landlords they had to take the ad down because of the huge response so it shows up in red as being let. always worth asking will they take a deposit at the viewing. some do, some dont. but better to be prepared.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 358 ✭✭Philbert


    Good advice! I think we need to be more pushy - we've been showing up early and telling them how interested we are...maybe a sly 50 into the letting agents hand might be the next step!
    Some places are being let before they even have the viewing which makes me wonder if people are offering cash before they've even seen the place.
    I totally understand your frustration. I was in the same position not too long ago, looking for a 1 bed apartment in Dublin city center.

    My budget started at €700, this immediately rose to €800 then €900....!
    I was just about to give up when I found one place I really liked. The landlord had more than 25 appointments that day to see the place and I know that there was a slim chance of been picked from so many. So, I told the landlord that I would add an additional €70 on to the monthly rent he was looking for and double the deposit. (I was desperate at this stage :rolleyes: ).

    I also expressed how much I really really wanted the place. He called me back later that day and told me that I can move in straight away. :) I actually felt like I had just won the lotto, in reality however, it was quite the oppoiste!

    So my point is, you need some sort of competitive advantage, and money is about all you have :(

    You could also try outright bribery. Bring some cash or an expensive gift. (I realise how obscene that is, but its soooo competitive out there you really need to do something to give yourself the advantage)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,676 ✭✭✭ArphaRima


    I really am amazed at this post. Surely if demand is greater than supply, the price will rise? I cant fathom these "hoping to be picked" statements.


  • Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 15,001 ✭✭✭✭Pepe LeFrits


    I'm viewing a place tomorrow that is (relatively) cheap and in a great location, so not surprisingly the estate agent said there is a lot of interest. I've got first viewing though, so does anyone have any tips or tricks I could use to get an advantage? I've got references ready for myself and my housemate (my housemate is going to an open viewing for another place a few miles away at the exact same time), I asked the estate agent if I should bring a deposit but they said no. I asked if offering a higher rent than what was asked for might help, but they said that wasn't really the way it works.


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,286 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    fluffer wrote:
    I really am amazed at this post. Surely if demand is greater than supply, the price will rise? I cant fathom these "hoping to be picked" statements.

    Demand being greater than supply is a temporary phenomenon- as a lot of properties which were previously available for rental purposes are now being desperately put on the market in a hurry (the daft survey in this forum shows availability of 2nd hand properties in Dublin on an upward trajechtory).

    I rented for a number of years a small self-contained apartment in Rathmines. It was a beautiful flat in the basement of one of the old houses there- the family who owned the place lived overhead. While it doesn't mirror regular arrangements- it worked extremely well.

    If you check student-land Rathmines/Ranelagh/Clonskeagh/Dundrum/Stillorgan you will find that property does become available- esp. at this time of the year (a lot of Erasmus students/US students may have rented maisonettes/flats for 1 term and landlords may have difficulties letting them again esp. to students, the average Irish student not having the same rental potential as a foreign student).

    There are options out there rather than relying on The Evening Herald and DAFT- you just have to know how and where to look.

    Shane


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭Cheese Princess


    Thanks for all the advice folks. Have 2 more places lined up for tomorrow night so fingers crossed. I did consider the idea of offering more money but we can't really afford it. Maybe I'll bake a nice cake for the letting agent....:)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    Thanks for all the advice folks. Have 2 more places lined up for tomorrow night so fingers crossed. I did consider the idea of offering more money but we can't really afford it. Maybe I'll bake a nice cake for the letting agent....:)
    Unless its a money cake i would'nt bother. Money talks and the market decides what the rent will be. Consider different property types /be flexible about exact location if money is an issue.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,286 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Unless its a money cake i would'nt bother. Money talks and the market decides what the rent will be. Consider different property types /be flexible about exact location if money is an issue.

    Exactly- the knux of the issue is location, location, location.....
    Everyone wants to live as central as possible- regardless of the state of the housing or rental market- there is a finite supply of centrally located property. Explore other options. Its only a 30 minute walk from Rathmines to the Central Bank on Dame Street, after all......

    Explore your options.....


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 39 Gerry_J


    The best thing to do is firstly, as mentioned by Stinkerbell make sure that your reference are faxed or dropped off into the Letting Agent office or to the Landlord by e-mail if possible, also make sure you know how to get to the property and that the local services and amenities are suited you where you work.

    Secondly, as for open viewings they are mostly the norm for Lettings, but try to make your self know to the agent and that they should have already have your references, and try to be as early as possible for the appointment, it is beneficial to be in a position to pay a holding / partial deposit payment so long as you can get a proper receipt for same.

    Thirdly, be prepared to sign off on a lease as soon as possible, it may be some what of a bitter pill to have to swallow if you gave already paid fully or partially in advance for your current rental property, but to secure the property it may be necessary, as Landlords put pressure on agents to get their property let as soon as possible.

    Fourthly, it’s all market dependent as to what’s available on the market at any give time and who is available to rent in the market at any give time. Tenants want clean secure rental properties well furnished and presentable, and most of all affordable where as Landlords seek professional working tenants for the most part, some will take the rent allowance but unfortunately this number is reducing all the time.

    They want to maximise the rental income and keep costs low, with the increase in service charges and maintance costs they increasingly dependent on high or above market rents to make the mortgage payments hence you see some high rents for medium quality, also you have the other type of Landlord who now has large mortgage repayments to make and they decide to up the rent to meet that alone, unfair but unfortunately it happens.

    Finally, no offence intended but any proposed Tenants who either says that they can pay by cash, or offer any form or incentive to an agent are generally automatically disregarded as to avoid any future incidents of problems as in my experience any one who has to do that generally has a reason for doing so. It is of no benefit to accept money or some other issue /gift for the slake of loosing the letting fees of the property of the tenant goes belly up and possible losing of the client too all for the sake of taking a backhander.

    Regards

    Gerry


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 358 ✭✭Philbert


    Good informative post Gerry.

    Just want to address the following points from my perspective:
    Gerry_J wrote:
    Finally, no offence intended but any proposed Tenants who offer any form or incentive to an agent are generally automatically disregarded as to avoid any future incidents of problems
    I was dealing with the landlord directly. I didnt realise this was the case with agents. But Im sure youll get those agents who will, and those who wont.
    Gerry_J wrote:
    as in my experience any one who has to do that generally has a reason for doing so.
    My only reason was to try to gain the competitiive advantage amongst 20 odd other professional hard working people and couples.
    Gerry_J wrote:
    It is of no benefit to accept money or some other issue /gift for the slake of loosing the letting fees of the property if the tenant goes belly up and possible losing of the client too all for the sake of taking a backhander
    Please remember that not all tenants who offer incentives are "dodgy". Desperate times call for desperate measures.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,333 ✭✭✭Zambia


    I would advise against offering to handover cash too soon. There has been case of fraud in dublin where several deposits are taken on a property already sub let then the viewing person buggers off with the cash.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭iguana


    smccarrick wrote:
    Demand being greater than supply is a temporary phenomenon- as a lot of properties which were previously available for rental purposes are now being desperately put on the market in a hurry (the daft survey in this forum shows availability of 2nd hand properties in Dublin on an upward trajechtory).

    I don't know how temporary it is. The op's post sounds exactly like what I went through getting a flat back in April, May and part of June 2003. Granted I was looking in Rathmines & Ranelagh but it took 11 weeks going to as many as 8 viewings a day to find a 1 bed apt for €950pm.

    I went to viewings before work on, my lunch break and then more each evening. Most places were absolute sh!tholes, one even required you to agree not to drink alcohol in the building and another had a toilet in the shower, like in a campervan and another had the shower in the bedroom, like literally a shower at the end of the bed. :mad: Anything decent was gone by the time we got there.

    At one stage we got so desperate we took a place in a hurry because we wanted to confirm it before the other people queueing outside snapped it up. It was covered in dirt and mould and the gate to the car park slammed against the bedroom wall everytime a car enetered or left the building. Which was every 30 seconds between 7 and 9.30am. We lived in it two days before moving out, sacrificing a chunk of our deposit. Luckily we still had a months paid up on our old place so we could move back there.

    Eventually we found a great place, €900pm, two bedrooms and a patio overlooking Ranelagh Gardens. Heaven. Until the winter rolled around and the whole place was destroyed in damp, ruining a whole load of our furniture and clothing. Which it took the landlord 14 months to make even a crappy attempt to sort out.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭Cheese Princess


    Well it's another week later and still no joy.
    We have looked in town, Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar, Ringsend, Ballsbridge, Sandymount, Dundrum, Inchicore...so we're not exactly limiting the search. It's the same every time - crowds of people or total dumps. The letting agents are taking references only, no deposits.
    This is our 4th week looking and we've seen 4 places this week already, I'm going to another one at lunchtime.
    Trying to stay optimistic but it's seriously wearing us down now.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    Well it's another week later and still no joy.
    We have looked in town, Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar, Ringsend, Ballsbridge, Sandymount, Dundrum, Inchicore...so we're not exactly limiting the search. It's the same every time - crowds of people or total dumps. The letting agents are taking references only, no deposits.
    This is our 4th week looking and we've seen 4 places this week already, I'm going to another one at lunchtime.
    Trying to stay optimistic but it's seriously wearing us down now.
    why not try somewhere on the northside? Buses are fairly efficient from nortside suburbs near to city centre. Phibsboro, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Santry are all very convenient for working anywhere near city centre.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 147 ✭✭TCollins


    I think there has been a lot of rubbish spoken over the last 2 years about rent prices going down or remaining static. In my experience they have been going up over the last couple of years. There are lots of people at viewings looking for apartments in Swords, Balbriggan and Santry (These are the places i've been looking). I have had similar experiences to yourselves when moving twice in the last 2 years.

    Its almost gone back to the scrambles of 2000 to get a place.


  • Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 15,001 ✭✭✭✭Pepe LeFrits


    Just paid the deposit and first months rent on a place, what a relief! Got a really nice, spacious 3 double bedroom apartment on Ailesbury road for €2000 a month.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    TCollins wrote:
    I think there has been a lot of rubbish spoken over the last 2 years about rent prices going down or remaining static. In my experience they have been going up over the last couple of years. There are lots of people at viewings looking for apartments in Swords, Balbriggan and Santry (These are the places i've been looking). I have had similar experiences to yourselves when moving twice in the last 2 years.

    Its almost gone back to the scrambles of 2000 to get a place.
    Its not rubbish, since 2000 rents have'nt risen on average more than inflation and actually fell for a few years around 2002-2004. This is'nt me saying this its from Daft.ie who monitor and survey rents in all areas for years on a scientific basis. My friend recently rented his one bed in Phibsboro for 950euro which is same price as when he bought it in late 2004. Rents have been rising over last few months due to many investors selling properties and large numbers of immigrants arriving still.
    http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/02/06/story2187.asp
    Of course some areas will rise by more than others depending on rental demand in that area at any given time. Expect less hassle renting later this year or early next year.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 147 ✭✭TCollins


    Its not rubbish, since 2000 rents have'nt risen on average more than inflation and actually fell for a few years around 2002-2004. This is'nt me saying this its from Daft.ie who monitor and survey rents in all areas for years on a scientific basis. My friend recently rented his one bed in Phibsboro for 950euro which is same price as when he bought it in late 2004. Rents have been rising over last few months due to many investors selling properties and large numbers of immigrants arriving still.
    http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/02/06/story2187.asp
    Of course some areas will rise by more than others depending on rental demand in that area at any given time. Expect less hassle renting later this year or early next year.

    One of the very people who seems to think that they can change market forces by running around shouting 'the sky is falling, the sky is falling', 'rents are falling', 'the sky is falling'

    Its 2007 now, not 2004 by the way.

    I know you have a friends experience for every point you want to make :) but why not read the experiences of others (there are plenty just above your post) or go out and check for yourself. Rents have been increasing for a lot longer than you think. Face it, rent is not cheap anymore. There are now unfortunately queues to get apartments. And predicting futures trends is not easy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9 geraco


    read this thread and i thought it must have been dated from 2001 - i moved back to ireland last march - we organised 10 viewings - first place we saw in Temple bar we took - it was very easy - a year later we are renegotiating our lease with the landlady - looking for new furniture, some changes etc. I thought we had the upper hand because everyone was saying that the rental market was slowing down.- after reading this thread i am seriously re-evaluating our approach with the landlady.:eek:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,205 ✭✭✭✭hmmm


    TCollins wrote:
    I think there has been a lot of rubbish spoken over the last 2 years about rent prices going down or remaining static. In my experience they have been going up over the last couple of years.
    The daft figures clearly show rents have increased slightly over the past two years but are only beginning to regain levels from about 5 years ago. On the bubble thread you dismiss all anecdotal evidence and insist on statistics, here you appear to be dismissing the statistics and saying only your anecdotal evidence is correct - which is it to be?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 147 ✭✭TCollins


    hmmm wrote:
    The daft figures clearly show rents have increased slightly over the past two years but are only beginning to regain levels from about 5 years ago. On the bubble thread you dismiss all anecdotal evidence and insist on statistics, here you appear to be dismissing the statistics and saying only your anecdotal evidence is correct - which is it to be?

    I have personal experience of this one. This particular thread is not about speculation, it contains posts from many people who have actually been there trying to rent recently - not whose friends have tried to rent a place.

    The bubble thread is full speculation one way or the other. It does not contain any views that i can see from people who were just buying property or selling property who can tell you their actual experiences. Its all 'i know of this person or that house' and 'im telling you now laddy, this is what will happen.'

    This thread is 'It happened to me and here's my story'. Apart from the people who are telling us rents are not rising of course - 'They are still telling us about their friends in this thread'


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,219 ✭✭✭Calina


    Interesting that you mention Swords.

    Rents in Swords are up on average around 15% over the past 18 months or so. It's a big hike - but here's the interesting point: 1) rental supply is down by around a third, and 3) sales supply is up by about 100% give or take a few houses here or there.

    I think that one of the driving forces for rising rent in Swords is a lack of supply and all those new landlords in the new estates around there must be quite relieved because at least it might give them some scope to limit the pain when it comes to trying to cut their losses caused by mortgage outgoings exceeding rental income. That being said, I think some of them are chancing their arms as well by trying to cover their costs.

    Interestingly enough, one of the clues that a property market could be in trouble is when inventory for sale goes up causing a blip in rental supply...

    I've been renting for the past 7 years. Only in the last 18 months have I experienced rents actually going up. Previously they either stayed static or slid downwards. Sort of matches the daft reports.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 602 ✭✭✭soma


    TCollins wrote:
    I think there has been a lot of rubbish spoken over the last 2 years about rent prices going down or remaining static.

    No actually rents were often static and in some cases being eaten by inflation. Read the Daft reports, they're pretty easy reading even if you struggle with numbers.

    Rents however are *definitely* accelerating at the moment, there is no doubt about it. Investors are panicking and dumping properties. The sequence of these events are perfectly predictable in any property bubble, however the timing is impossible to call due to irrational nature of the participants.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭Cheese Princess


    So I went to a place on Friday in Rathmines and the letting agent said he'd had 78 enquiries about the place. Went through the usual routine of giving references etc to no avail...
    As for rent inflation....a friend of mine is moving out of his one-bed apartment in Dundrum which he has rented for a year for 1100 a month. I called the letting agent to see if they would consider signing the lease over to us and they said they were increasing the rent to 1300. That's about an 18% increase (if my maths are correct!). Seems a bit steep to me.....


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭Cheese Princess


    why not try somewhere on the northside? Buses are fairly efficient from nortside suburbs near to city centre. Phibsboro, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Santry are all very convenient for working anywhere near city centre.

    I would absolutely try any of these places if I wasn't working in Sandyford....I just couldn't cope with the commute!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    Since shortly after the new EU countries came in in 2004 rents rose which is understandable. Theres probably 200k people from the acession countries in Dublin area and even though a lot of them live ten to a house they still helped drive rents up or prevent them falling further since mid/late 2004. The guy from DAFT has said this many times. So if the economy slows down as is predicted and theres less jobs for these migrants rental demand could drop a fair bit.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 302 ✭✭Cheese Princess


    Well after 5 weeks of searching we have finally found a place! Hurray!! We were very lucky that the landlord made appointments instead of having an open viewing and we got in first and he liked us. We ended up having to go a little over budget to 1150 and it's a little less accessible for work than some other places but at this stage I am so relieved I don't care. It's a lovely apartment too and the landlord seems clued in.
    So I guess it's worth persevering! :)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    its fairly obvious whats happening in Dublin .

    long term landlords hanging in, they are getting a bit more rent recently
    short termers are cashing out and selling , they were mainly in there for capital gain .
    supply is down a bit in the rental market
    ex rentals coming up for sale in the market but not shifting and lying empty .

    all clearly evident in these graphs here (scroll down)

    http://daftwatch.atspace.com/

    (you could also check with the PRTB who are probably deregistering a fair few Dublin properties nowadays)

    short term until at least october it will get worse, long term not .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,817 ✭✭✭Tea drinker


    Sponge Bob, thanks for keeping us informed, love reading your stuff.

    CheeseyPrincess(!) Well done on getting the new place. I know from a few onths back what it's like, I looked at an awful lot of junk, landlords looked dodgy, or I looked dogdy to them! It's nasty. Am paying through the nose at the moment (1400), but it's a nice place, and close to work, and I am too old to live in sh!t.

    Looking at Sponge Bob's stuff certainly ties in with a restriction of supply for renters. Again making us more uncompetitive, with no explainable gain.


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    May I add that this is a purely Dublin problem.

    Nationally 16%-17% of the housing stock is empty but in Dublin this figure is in the order of 6-8%. If certain landlords cash out the number of empties could rise for a while as they try to shift their premises at high prices but eventually things will settle down.

    Elsewhere across most of the country the oversupply is so great that I cannot really see a spike in rents occuring as landlords cash out . Many of these Dublin landlords could be quite a while cashing out (to other landlords in some cases) during which time the rental stock could be affected, I fear that the worst demand/supply equation for the Dublin renter will be in september/october when the student cause a spike, note the drop in premises for rent at this time of year in the daft stats I linked a few posts back.

    Ultimately the problem is that at present a landlord will make more money putting his cash in a deposit account (even after dirt tax) Than renting a premises out brings in relative to its value.

    If I buy a €350k shoebox in central dublin I may pull in €1k a month rent 12 months a year. At the outside I will pull in €1.1k or €13.1k per annum.

    €13.1k for an asset worth €350k is less than 4% return and thats before management charges and redecoration and repairs or stuff.

    I'd rather leave leave the money in the Bank TBH, the rise of the high interest deposit account in the past 2 years is an interesting development .

    Having said that, if a lot of landlords try to sell this year and fail...leaving the properties empty on the market for years maybe....rents could rise 20% this year alone but its not a sustainable rise in my opinion.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,286 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    I think its a good time to revisit this thread. Would people like to post about their current experiences renting? Annecdotal evidence suggests that average monthly rent has fallen almost 20% in the greater Dublin area- but particularly in the North Inner City, North County Dublin and Dublin West (to include Blanch/Lucan) areas.

    People's current experiences would be appreciated.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,307 ✭✭✭ionapaul


    I've been renting a nice single room in Rathmines for the past few months and the rent recently went up from €500 to €550...am half thinking of leaving as a result. I get free wireless broadband and basic cable but even still, the rent increasing by 10% sticks in my craw.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,808 ✭✭✭Ste.phen


    If you left and the room was empty for a month they'd be down 550 quid. (So they'd be better off leaving your rent at 500 for 11 months before trying to raise it again...) Maybe they'd reconsider the increase based on that?

    Then again, maybe they'll find someone willing to pay the 550... hard to know.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    Renting a small but modern flat in a fantastic location. It's in Dublin 3 and an easy 15 minute stroll to work
    Paying €550 per month and I’ve been a good tenant for the last two years, always paid on time and never had issues with landlord.

    Landlord wants €600 and is telling me “market rates have increased substantially”
    It’s true I pass less then the other flats but they were vacant for 2 months plus while they waited to get a tenant.
    Two years ago I queued with 16 people to get the flat. It's not like that in Dublin anymore.

    This landlord is stubborn and it seems would rather leave a property vacant for months then negotiate.
    I dunno, they lost a good tenant for the sake of €50. Assuming a month of vancancy surely a landlord should be doing everything to keep long term tenants, no? :confused:
    Besides, my bedsit days are over!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,879 ✭✭✭heggie


    coming to end of lease on a 1 bed in D14, they are increasing rent by a few percent, and we're outta there! but there is definately better value out there now. Letting agent keep ringing to arrange viewing where we are now, but hardly anyone shows. Plus from looking at daft, a lot of properties that I have saved for a couple of months, still have not been let.

    Also, there are some bloody crazy prices, 1 bed in 'hazelbrook' in kilmacud and they are looking for 1400 a month! Needless to say that has not been let and I've had it in my daft list for quite a while


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,219 ✭✭✭Calina


    Rent is due for review in a few weeks' time. Will know better then.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭professore


    micmclo wrote: »
    Renting a small but modern flat in a fantastic location. It's in Dublin 3 and an easy 15 minute stroll to work
    Paying €550 per month and I’ve been a good tenant for the last two years, always paid on time and never had issues with landlord.

    Landlord wants €600 and is telling me “market rates have increased substantially”
    It’s true I pass less then the other flats but they were vacant for 2 months plus while they waited to get a tenant.
    Two years ago I queued with 16 people to get the flat. It's not like that in Dublin anymore.

    This landlord is stubborn and it seems would rather leave a property vacant for months then negotiate.
    I dunno, they lost a good tenant for the sake of €50. Assuming a month of vancancy surely a landlord should be doing everything to keep long term tenants, no? :confused:
    Besides, my bedsit days are over!

    Yes he should if he has half a brain .... think of it like this, if he was a business renting photocopiers with 2 customers for his product, one that paid on time every month € 600 and the other who was always late paying, always giving hassle, kept breaking the machine and paid € 650 ? Which customer do you choose ?

    So your landlord is an idiot IMHO. Maybe try negotiating a longer lease at a reduced price, and let him keep it out of your deposit if you break the lease, or he pays you vice versa?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 64 ✭✭adam.number2


    Rental places still very hard to get... rents rising all the time as people holding off buying and continuing to rent. New guy just started work here, finding it impossible to get a place. His description sounds like that of the OP a year ago, queues of people waiting etc. That's Dublin btw, might be different elsewhere.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,446 ✭✭✭bugler


    Rents are not rising. I don't know if your description is of someone looking for a room, but from analysis of Daft using the property bee the trends are rocketing rental supply, falling rents and massive stagnation of properties that just aren't shifting.

    Where I live must have an increased rental supply of 80-100% on three months ago, with rents suffering as a result. Those that aren't dropping their rent are remaining up for in excess of a month.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,718 ✭✭✭SkepticOne


    It is interesting to note that this thread was originally posted during a time of historically low inventory on Daft. This was a time when selling prices had peaked and investors were dumping their tenants in order to get out of the market. Shortly after this rents started to rise significantly due to the shortage of rental accommodation and reports started to appear in the media about rising rents.

    http://daftwatch.atspace.com/

    daftwatchrent.gif

    Since then there's been a massive rise, beginning around September of last year. Now we have an unprecedented amount of property available for rent which should drive rents down.

    The last couple of Daft rent reports show rents falling gradually but there still seems to be a view out there that rents generally are rising. I would suspect there's still a shortage if accommodation in central Dublin and probably always will be. This might be the source for anecdotes of price rises.

    It is worth checking out the rental section of IrishPropertyWatch here

    Another source of the perception of rising rents may come from existing tenants. A landlord will never approach an existing tenant offering to reduce rents (unless that tenant threatens to leave) but may well do so to increase rents.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,023 ✭✭✭Meathlass


    Again this seems to be a Dublin problem. I'm renting in Clonmel in Tipp. Lots of 3 and 4 bed houses for rent for 800 upwards. Having rented in Dublin for a year in Rathfarnham I know what it's like in Dublin though. Have to say though that the house I'm in now (80 euros a week ensuite) is shocking, no insulation at all. It's a detached 2 storey in an estate, built in last 2 years but I can hear all my flatmates in their rooms at night, watching tv, chatting on phone etc. I can mute my tv in my room and listen to the tv downstairs instead. I've rented plenty of places throughout the country in the last 5 years and this is the worst ever. Are there no standards at all in building regulations? It's a very family orientated estate with not that many people renting so God knows how they get on. Even though it's a new house on 3rd letting you can see how shoddly the builders finished it. Sign of the times I suppose.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,216 ✭✭✭Kur4mA


    Myself and the missus rent a small 1 bed apartment in Ongar, Dublin 15. Monthly rent is 1000 Euro. We've been here since September last year and hope to be out before the lease finishes in September.

    We're hoping to buy our first place together and have spotted a very nice 2 bed apartment close by which we're viewing next week.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,544 ✭✭✭✭Supercell


    Definately coming down.
    This time last year I was checking out daft and in my price range (<1000€ p/m) there was bugger all non bedsits in Dublin's southside, these days I'm spoilt for choice and can even find some two beds - totally unheard of this time last year.

    Looking at daftwatch rentals figures can only imagine the rental market becoming better and better for us renters.

    Have a weather station?, why not join the Ireland Weather Network - http://irelandweather.eu/



  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Politics Moderators Posts: 14,549 Mod ✭✭✭✭johnnyskeleton


    micmclo wrote: »

    Landlord wants €600 and is telling me “market rates have increased substantially”

    More likely, his mortgage has gone up €50 and he's trying to put it on you.


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