New renters are paying significantly more per month than those with existing tenancies, according to a new report.
The survey, from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), shows the costs facing those with new tenancy arrangements increased by 9.1%, over the course of 2023.
In the final quarter of last year the average rent for such tenants was 16% more than that paid by those with an existing lease.
The study takes in details of both new and existing tenancies around the country.
It looks at the cost and supply of rental properties between October and December of 2023 and compares these details with those from the same period a year earlier.
The report does not look at compliance with Rent Pressure Zone legislation.
There was a 31% fall in the number of tenancies that began toward the end of 2023, relative to the same three months a year earlier, with new lets dropping from 17,240, to 11,895.
There was a total of 56,451 new tenancies in 2023, down more than a fifth on the previous year.
As well as looking at different rent levels, the report gives an insight into how rents are rising for those in existing tenancies. Those rents increased by almost 6% last year.
The average monthly rent for a new tenancy in Dublin was €2,098. This compares with an average of €1,225 outside the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).
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However, while prices for new tenancies increased by 6.5% over the course of 2023, they went up by 12.6% outside the GDA.
In every county new tenants pay a higher rent, relative to what sitting tenants pay.
The gap is most pronounced in Co Sligo, where there is a 36% difference - or €300 - between the cost of the average existing rent, compared to the price facing a new tenant.
Donegal, Westmeath and Limerick also recorded variations of more than a third in similar scenarios.
The difference is lowest in Co Louth, where new rents are 11% more costly.
The report also shows that Limerick recorded a 25% rent increase, year on year, for new tenancies. Rents in the city are now on average just €20 less than the comparable figure in Cork. Researchers say they are watching to see if this is a temporary adjustment or whether the narrowing of rental costs between both locations is more permanent.
The study, conducted in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Institute, gathered responses from 39,000 existing tenancies around Ireland.
The new tenancies index has data going back to 2007, while the existing tenancies index commenced in 2022.
'Relentless' increase in rents
Rents have "risen relentlessly" since 2014 and the private rental sector has been shrinking, according to Sinn Féin's Housing Spokesperson.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Eoin Ó Broin called on the Government to do more to "protect renters" and said a ban on rent increases was needed.
He said that while they were seeing an increase in the supply of new homes, it was "nowhere close to what's required".
"And importantly, the particular types of homes that are required for the folks that are being hit by these rent increases - social and affordable homes - aren't being delivered, the Government are missing those targets every single year and the targets are too low," he said.
"We need the Government to accept that what they're doing is not working for renters. It has never been harder to be a renter, more insecure or more expensive."
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Low housing levels impacting new tenants
"Very constrained" levels of housing supply are making it difficult for new tenants entering the rental market, an Associate Research Professor at the ESRI.
Also speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Conor O'Toole said the rental market had displayed "very low levels" of supply for many years.
There are "a number of factors" contributing to the higher rise of rents in Dublin than elsewhere, he said, explaining that rents in Dublin picked up quicker when Ireland emerged from the financial crisis and the regional market is now catching up.
He said rent pressure zones in Dublin are also potentially keeping some degree of moderation in price growth.
He said the broader housing market outlook was that there was "just a very large demand for housing".
Chair of the Irish Property Owners Association, Mary Conway, said the data in the RTB Rent Index Report fails to account for the costs and challenges associated with maintaining properties and providing quality housing for tenants.
"Just under 56,500 new tenancies were registered with the RTB last year, a fall of 21% on the previous year. This represents a worrying trend, as property owners' continue to leave the market," she said.
"Landlords are confronted with mounting expenses such as property maintenance, insurance, and burdensome high tax rates, which must be balanced against rental yields."
"The latest RTB Rent Index Report underscores the ongoing challenges faced by landlords in maintaining sustainable rental incomes."
