Figures published by Daft today show that rents in Galway are now completely out of reach for most people, according to Social Democrats by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich.<\/p>\n
M\u00edde said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe disastrous impact of the Government\u2019s new rent rules is revealed today as rents surge at the highest rate in 25 years. The average rent for a two-bed apartment in Galway is now almost \u20ac2,300, according to the property listing website.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report makes for grim reading \u2013 especially for those who are desperately trying to find a home to rent. The impact of these new rent rules has been nothing short of catastrophic all across the country, but particularly in urban centres such as Galway, Cork, Limerick and Dublin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho can afford these kinds of extortionate prices? These rent hikes are going to lead to a tsunami of evictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report showed there were 2,374 homes available to rent nationwide on May 1, which represented a reduction of four per cent from the previous year, but an increase on the 1,200 homes that were available on January 1. The increase in supply indicates that landlords were keeping properties off the market when tenancies ended until the new rules came in on March 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe changes have made a bad situation even worse for renters. This Government has turned a housing crisis into a housing disaster and now a social catastrophe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rationale for the Government\u2019s policy change doesn\u2019t stand up. They say they want to boost supply to reduce rent prices. However, cities outside of Dublin have seen supply increase in the past year and, in Galway, for example, rents have risen by a whopping 18 per cent in that period.<\/p>\n
\u201cRents have not come down; they have gone up – and all because this Government has given landlords carte blanche to increase them to whatever they want.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats and other Opposition parties warned the Government this would happen. But they didn\u2019t listen and now renters are left picking up the pieces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Government must now act quickly to try to dull the hugely negative impact of their own rent hike laws. They must introduce a three-year ban on no-fault evictions, and a ban on rent increases, before prices go any higher.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Figures published by Daft today show that rents in Galway are now completely out of reach for most people, according to Social Democrats by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich. M\u00edde said: \u201cThe disastrous impact of the Government\u2019s new rent rules is revealed today as rents surge at the highest rate in 25 years. The average rent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[785,806,802,10,803,479],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evictions","category-galway-west","category-galway-west-by-election","category-housing-crisis","category-mide-nic-fhionnlaoich","category-unlisted"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n