Housing supply in Longford plummets to 'an all time low' while rents soar

Soaring rents in Longford rose by almost 8% to over €1,350 at the end of 2024 compared to a year previously and a chronic shortage of availability has compounded the escalating crisis.

There were just six available houses and six apartments to rent in the entire county on Monday according to the Daft.ie website.

Longford auctioneer Padraic Davis has described the historically high prices as being "unsustainable" and he can see no improvement or obvious solution here over the coming years.

"It's a very challenging rental market for anyone who is trying to get a property with historically high rents, I don't think they are sustainable, I think they are too high.

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"There is evidence of rents of €1,700 per month being charged in county Longford for three bedroom semi-detached homes and rents of €1,500 and €1,600 are quite common."

"It's very difficult and hugely frustrating for people as supply is at an all time low and he is not sure what the fix is for it," he added.

Rents in county Longford increased by 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to a year previously with the average monthly outlay now €1,353.

The average monthly cost has soared by 83% in Longford since the level prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2020.

Market rents in Leinster's midland counties increased by 5% year-on-year, compared to a rise of 12.4% in 2023.

There were just 12 rental properties available in county Longford on Monday according to the Daft.ie website with six houses and six apartments listed.

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The most expensive property listed was a three bedroom house in Newtowncashel priced at €1,950 per month, while another five bedroom house in Longford town was priced at €1,750.

The average price of the houses available worked out at €1,468.

The most expensive apartment listed was a property in Ballymahon for €1,350 per month and the average rental cost of an apartment was €1,233.

Mr Davis said those 12 properties listed in county Longford "often run down to two or three" when calls are made.

"It's a very difficult time at the moment for anybody and then a lot of these people are in the generation who are trying to save for a deposit to eventually buy and it has become hugely challenging for them," he added.

Mr Davis the reason for the scarcity of properties is that while they are back building in the cities and the east coast there is no building taking place in Longford.

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"If you take your Longford, Leitrim, Roscommon, we all have the same housing stock as we had in 2008.

"The little bit of building going on is social housing and the supply is not being increased and our population is going through the roof.

"We're not going to be building around here, for a three bed semi-detached you are probably averaging about €220,000 and no developer could consider developing at those sort of prices."

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The Government fell significantly short of its promise to deliver 40,000 housing units last year with just 30,330 new dwellings completed in 2024.

Sinn Féin TD Sorca Clarke has said that Longford renters are "paying the price of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's housing failures" and people are seeing "significant increases" in both new and existing rents.

“The failure of successive governments to deliver a sufficient supply of social and affordable homes and private homes to purchase has forced too many people into a private rental sector that does not meet their needs.