Protest to take place amid further rental rises across Limerick city and county

A PROTEST is to take place outside County Hall this Thursday, amid further rental rises in Limerick.

The Solidarity councillors will hold the demonstration during the council’s annual budget meeting, and they will demand a proper programme of public housing is put in place.

It comes as rental prices continue to climb in Limerick, with prices outside the city up by 8%, a new survey shows.

And in the urban city area, the median rate now stands at an eyewatering €1,551 per month after a 20.3% rise in the last year.

New data released by the property web site www.daft.ie show the average advertised rent in Limerick is now €809, up 44% from its lowest point. 

It’s the tenth consecutive quarter rents have risen, and the new figures – which show rents rose an average of 11% nationally – have drawn calls for government action as the number of houses on offer in the private rental market remains static.

Limerick and Waterford are the only cities in the country which are not part of the Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ), a move which restricts annual rent rises to just 4%.

It has led to calls for RPZs to be introduced immediately in Limerick City, with Fianna Fail TD Willie O’Dea saying: “While the Rent Pressure Zone System hasn't done much to slow down the rate of increases in the price of rent across Ireland, with the highest increase of any city in the last 12 months, Limerick urgently needs to have rent controls in place. 

“The Minister has consistently told me that rents are not going up fast enough in Limerick to justify being included in the Rent Pressure Zone System. These new figures give the lie to that.”

Labour’s housing spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan ​wants to go further, saying national rent controls now must be brought in.

“Two years on from the legislation that introduced Rent Pressure Zones it is clear that they are not working.

“Areas covered by the zones are seeing rent increases well above the 4% maximum required and for cities like Limerick and Waterford which are not included, rents have risen by 20% in the past year. What we need instead is a nationwide control on rents that links them to the cost of living.”

Ms O’Sullivan said with the situation now so “desperate”, a freeze on increases must happen.