The average monthly cost of rent in Ireland has been revealed

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The standard national average private sector rent for residential properties Ireland stood at €986 per month in the final quarter of 2016, according to a new report by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). The RTB’s latest quarterly index showed that private sector rents grew by 7.8% across the country as a whole in the fourth quarter of 2016 and that overall, nationally, rents are now just 2.7% below the peak at the height of the boom in 2007. In Dublin, the situation has escalated considerably, with rent prices now 8.3 % greater than the peak in the fourth quarter of 2007; the growth in rents for apartments was more pronounced than for housing, with apartment rent prices now 12.3% above the peak for ten years ago, compared to 5% for houses. Outside of Dublin, meanwhile, rent prices for houses are 11.1% below the 2007 peak level, but rents have been steadily increasing since the beginning of 2015. Following the publication of the RTB Index, meanwhile, Cobh and Maynooth have been designated as Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ), local election areas (LEA) where rents increased by 7% or more in four of the previous six quarters and where the average rent is above the average standardised national rent. LEAs in the counties of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Wicklow, Meath and Kildare have previously been designated as RPZs by Minister Simon Coveney. You can check out the average monthly rent for local election areas throughout Ireland in the RTB quarterly index here.