Pandemic drives rental cost up in Galway city
By Erika Sassone
In the last year, there was a 4.6% increase in rental prices in Galway city centre according to the Daft.ie Rental Price Report.
Every county rental figure has risen apart from Dublin.
This is principally due to the pandemic as many students returned to Galway believing they would be in college. Also, with people working from home, some chose to move away from Dublin for smaller cities such as Galway.
In this situation, single people have been particularly affected as Karina Timothy, Western Regional Services Manager of Threshold explained:
“This is a dearth of any single-person accommodation in Galway and almost none is affordable. Single people’s only housing option may be to rent a room in a house of strangers” Ms. Timothy said.
A single bedroom in the city centre costs €469 on average, which is a growth of 20.9% on the year before, while in the city suburbs there’s an increment of 18.9%.
Concerns also grow around the fact that people renting a room are less protected than those who choose to rent an apartment or a house, and little has been done by the government, so far.
“If a landlord wants to sell the house/apartment, they have every right to do so. There are no protections for tenants in this regard… Security of tenure was and remains the biggest issue for tenants” Ms. Timothy said.
For more Galway related stories go to galwaypulse.com, including the success of the Walk on Wednesday initiative.
