Limerick sees biggest rent increase in the country with a jump of over 20%

LIMERICK has recorded the highest annual rent increases in the country, according to the latest rental report from property website Daft.ie. 

The report, which covers the first quarter of 2025, shows rents in Limerick city surged by 20.4% year-on-year, bringing the average monthly rent to €2,405, well above the national average.

Outside the city, rents in the rest of Limerick rose by 15.5% compared to the same period last year, with the average rent now standing at €1,704. This marks an 83% increase since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The report’s author, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, attributed the ongoing surge in rents to a critical shortage of rental housing. 

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He said: “The sustained increases in rents in the open market are being driven by an acute and worsening shortage of rental housing.

“Unfortunately, changes made to rent controls in 2021 dramatically reduced the ability of Ireland’s rental sector to attract the capital needed for new supply, the ultimate remedy for the shortage. The opportunity exists for the government to reform those controls and facilitate the emergence of a new pipeline of rental homes. Nonetheless, further supports will be needed to encourage new rental supply outside of the Greater Dublin Area.

“It is imperative that the new government avoid the trap fallen into by the last one in thinking that the only determinant of new homes built is the budget given to housing. The government is not just the funder, it is also the referee.”

The sharp rise in Limerick comes as part of a broader trend across the province. Rents in Munster were 11.5% higher year-on-year, up from 7.9% a year ago. 

275 homes were available to rent in Munster on May 1st, a 14% drop compared to 2024. That figure represents just over one-quarter of the availability seen in the late 2010s.

Nationally, rents rose 3.4% in the first quarter of 2025, one of the steepest quarterly increases in nearly 20 years. The average rent across Ireland is now €2,053, up from €765 in 2011 and 48% higher than pre-Covid levels.

The full Daft.ie report is available here.