Residential Tenancies Board’s detailed data suggests 12.3% rise in approved housing body tenants – The Irish Times
Dublin’s north inner city had 10,505 private tenancies registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) at the end of March last, according to new data on registered tenancies broken down by county, local authority, and local electoral area.
The new data, which arises from the board’s determination to produce more accurate and more detailed information about the rental sector, shows that the number of private registered tenancies in the north inner city increased by 972 over the 12 months to the end of March, having been 9,533 at the end of June 2023.
The RTB data, which is available online, gives detailed figures for not just private tenancies and private landlords, but also for tenancies provided by approved housing bodies (AHBs), again broken down by county, local authority and local electoral areas.
The data shows that the Pembroke electoral area in Dublin had 7,206 registered private tenancies at the end of March, the south east inner city had 6,593, Kimmage Rathmines had 6,490, the south west inner city had 6,472, Cabra Glasnevin had 5,786, and Glencullen Sandyford had 4,224.
[ Landlords with more than 100 properties now own 22% of Dublin rentalsOpens in new window ]
All of these areas showed small, steady quarter-by-quarter increases in the number of registered tenancies over the 12-month period to the end of March.
Outside Dublin, Cork City south central had 4,383 registered private tenancies at the end of March, while Galway City central had 3,262.
The new data series by the RTB aims to remove duplicated and inactive tenancies. It involves a new requirement for the annual renewal of registrations, the automatic removal of tenancies not renewed, Eircode validation of tenancy addresses and the verification of landlords using PPSN and company registration numbers.
The data shows that 81 per cent of private tenancies registered in the first quarter of this year were in rent-pressure zones. The lowest number of registered tenancies were in counties Leitrim (1,128), Longford (1,786) and Monaghan (1,827).
The data shows not just a steady increase each quarter in the number of registered private tenancies but also an increase in the number of AHB tenancies on the register.
The total number of AHB tenancies has gone from 41,127 at the end of June 2023, to 46,200 at the end of March this year, an increase of 12.3 per cent.
At the end of March, 21,701 registered AHB tenancies were in apartments, while 24,497 were in houses. The bulk of the tenancies were provided by AHBs that supply more than 100 tenancies.
The local electoral area with the largest number of registered AHB tenancies at the end of March was Dublin’s north inner city, where there were 1,209, a figure that has remained almost static since June of last year (1,204).
The south east and south west inner city had, respectively, 1,018 and 1053, figures which again were relatively the same as those recorded 12 months earlier. Blanchardstown had 995 at the end of March last, and Ballymun Finglas 829.
Outside Dublin, Cork north west had 726, Dundalk south 625, Midleton 623, and Carlow 501. Carrick-on-Suir had two.
Research officer with the RTB Brian Gallwey said the publication of the new data series represented the culmination of significant work aimed at improving the accuracy of the register.
“The new data breakdowns will provide valuable insights on the changing face of Ireland’s rental sector for policymakers,” he said.
