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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Lifestyle
Anita McSorley

Ireland house prices: The salary you need to rent a home in every county in 2022

Rent prices across Ireland continue to rise, with new data showing they were up an average of 9% to €1,415 per month at the end of last year for new tenants.

The startling figure was revealed in the Residential Tenancies Board’s (RTB) quarterly Rent Index report for the October to December period of 2021 (Q4 2021), which was published today.

The report is based on renters taking up new tenancies that are registered with the RTB.

READ MORE: Ireland house prices: The salary you need to buy a home in every county in 2022

It found that new rents nationally increased by 9% in the last quarter of 2021, from €1,298 in the last quarter of 2020, to €1,415 for the same period last year.

However, rental costs varied greatly from county to county.

During Q4 2021, average rents in new tenancies in Dublin were substantially higher than those outside Dublin at €1,972 per month, compared to €1,104 per month.

While Dublin had the highest average rent for new tenancies at €1,972 per month, Leitrim had the lowest at €740.

The report also noted a huge drop in the number of new rents registered in Q4 2021, which was 48% less than during the same period the previous year.

RTB Director Niall Byrne said 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.”

The Rent Index breaks down how much on average new renters were paying in every county during the last quarter of 2021.

The suggested rule of thumb is that renters spend 30% of their monthly income on rent.

Using today's Rent Index data, we take a look at how much it would cost to start renting a house in every county in Ireland, and the salary you would need to be taking in per month to live comfortably if you were putting 30% of it into rent.

The results are based on one single renter, so can be divided accordingly if it is split between multiple tenants.

Carlow

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,102.99

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,676.83

Cavan

Average cost of monthly rent: €778.07

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,593.56

Clare

Average cost of monthly rent: €963.40

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,211.33

Cork

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,247.71

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €4,159.03

Donegal

Average cost of monthly rent: €762.14

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,540.46

Dublin

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,972.23

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €6,574.10

Galway

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,200.57

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €4,001.90

Kerry

Average cost of monthly rent: €950.82

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,169.40

Kildare

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,373.73

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €4,579.10

Kilkenny

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,037.37

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,457.90

Laois

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,036.06

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,453.53

Leitrim

Average cost of monthly rent: €739.70

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,465.66

Limerick

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,203.31

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €4,011.03

Longford

Average cost of monthly rent: €835.44

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,784.80

Louth

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,184.72

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,949.06

Mayo

Average cost of monthly rent: €820.31

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,734.36

Meath

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,356.83

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €4,522.76

Monaghan

Average cost of monthly rent: €805.08

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,683.60

Offaly

Average cost of monthly rent: €897.42

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,991.40

Roscommon

Average cost of monthly rent: €864.68

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,882.26

Sligo

Average cost of monthly rent: €890.25

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,967.50

Tipperary

Average cost of monthly rent: €841.06

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €2,803.53

Waterford

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,030.55

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,435.16

Westmeath

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,011.57

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,371.90

Wexford

Average cost of monthly rent: €977.11

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €3,257.03

Wicklow

Average cost of monthly rent: €1,522.80

Monthly salary needed to afford it: €5,076.00

READ MORE: Ireland house prices: How much you need to save a month to buy one for €250k to €750k starting today

READ MORE: Ireland salaries: How much you need to earn to take home €2,000, €4,000 or €6,000 a month after tax

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