Crisis revealed in Leitrim rental market

The debate on the eviction ban last week shone a light on the nationwide crisis in the rental market.

Last week Sligo Leitrim Deputy Marian Harkin put forward figures she obtained for property website Daft.ie which showed “In the entire county of Roscommon, there are 13 properties to rent, while in Sligo, there are 21.

In Donegal, a large county, there are 57, and in Leitrim, four properties are available to rent.”

Just last night the Independent TD updated those figures, "According to Daft.ie, this evening, there are now just 15 places to let in Sligo, six less than a week ago. In Donegal it's 57, the same as last week, in Roscommon there are 12 rental properties available, one less than a week ago, and, as of this evening, in Leitrim there is just one place to rent."

She told members, “In case anybody thinks homelessness is a problem for people out there, outside these walls, I know somebody who works in this building, in Leinster House, who will be homeless from the 11th of April. “Despite months of searching for rental accommodation this person has to leave Dublin. This shows that homelessness can happen to anybody,” the Deputy said.

Figures quoted by Deputy Harkin showed that 17 Local Authorities have no emergency accommodation, six have very limited emergency accommodation and only three have any reasonable amount of emergency accommodation.

The average price of rent in Leitrim is €930 a month, which is the cheapest nationwide. Rent has increased across the country by 13.7% with rents in Dublin an average of €2,300 a month.

With landlords withdrawing properties from the market, most people are seeking out mortgages as a better financial option compared to long term rental.

The total number of properties available to rent on February 1 this year was 1,096, down over 20% from the same date last year.