Revealed: Eye-watering cost of the average rent in Kilkenny, as 'extreme scarcity' of houses persists

The average listed rent in Kilkenny is now €1,691, up 68% from the level prevailing when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, with market rents here on average an astonishing 9.5% higher in the second quarter of 2025 than a year previously. 

Nationally, market rents rose by an average of 1.6% in the second quarter of 2025, according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie, the 18th consecutive quarter of rising rents. The average open-market rent nationwide between April and June was €2,055 per month, up from a low of just €765 in 2011 and 51% higher than before the outbreak of Covid-19.

In recent years, rents in Dublin had been rising at a slower pace than elsewhere, reflecting the impact of both Covid-19 in reshaping location preferences and significant new purpose-built supply coming on stream more recently. However, with the volume of new supply slowing considerably, inflation in the capital - at 6.5% - is now close to the average seen in the rest of the country (7.3%).
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There remains significant pressure in the rental markets of Ireland’s other cities. In Galway city, rents were up 8.5% year on year, while in Cork city, they increased by 11.8% in the same period. Inflation was even greater in Waterford City (up 12.5%) and, as has consistently been the case in recent quarters, Limerick city saw the highest inflation, at 14.9%. Outside the five major cities, rents rose by an average of 6.2% over the last year.

There were almost 2,300 homes available to rent nationwide on August 1. This is down 14% year-on-year and close to half the 2015-2019 average for availability of homes to rent.

“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 Covid-19 pandemic hit," said Ronan Lyons, Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin.
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"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.”