Waterford tenants hit by double-digit increase as rents rise faster than Dublin

Rents in Waterford City have jumped by 12.5% in the past year, with the average tenant now paying €1,818 a month, according to a new report.

The increase is one of the steepest in the country, outpacing Cork (+11.8%), Galway (+8.5%) and Dublin (+6.5%). Only Limerick saw a bigger rise, with rents there soaring by almost 15%.

In the rest of Waterford, rents rose by 8.2% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025, bringing the average rent to €1,720. That figure is now 77% higher than at the onset of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Daft.ie Rental Report shows that rents continue to climb nationally, rising by 1.6% between April and June and marking the 18th consecutive quarter of increases.

READ MORE | REVEALED: Waterford first-time buyers need over €75k salary to buy a home, study finds

The average open-market rent across Ireland now stands at €2,055 per month, more than double the Celtic Tiger peak and 51% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Just 2,300 homes were available to rent nationwide on August 1, a 14% drop compared to last year and close to half the average availability seen between 2015 and 2019.

Commenting on the findings, report author Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said: "The average open-market rent nationwide – at a little over €2,000 a month – is twice the rent seen at the Celtic Tiger peak and 50% higher than the level of rents that prevailed just before the covid19 pandemic hit.

READ MORE | 'I didn't feel safe' – Waterford wheelchair user and residents hail new footpath

"As has consistently been the case over the past fifteen years, the substantial increases in rents are being driven by extreme scarcity of rental housing, relative to underlying need.

"Since the last report, the government has moved to relax some of the strictest aspects of Ireland's rent controls. While this is likely to help boost investment in new rental supply, those changes will not take effect until next year.

"Further, Ireland's lengthy planning process means that it will be a number of years before any increase in supply is meaningful enough to start addressing the large deficit of rental housing in the country."

The report warns that availability remains the key issue, with little sign of improvement as demand continues to outpace supply in Waterford and across Ireland.