In Co Louth, estate agent Jacqueline Watters of Blue Sky Property said she now only puts an ad up for four hours because they get “hundreds” of enquiries. She believes the Government “truly does not understand” the scale of the problem and claims that it is “not photo-friendly” to be seen to support the landlord. “There are zero properties for rent in Dungarvan – zero.” She warns there is “no accommodation” for nurses or doctors in Waterford even though she receives a lot of queries from the staff of a big pharmaceutical company in Dungarvan. Her mortgage remained greater than the rent she had been receiving and so she is exiting the market. Ms Mangan knows of a teacher who lets out the house she bought before her marriage, at a rent cap of €800 while the market value is €1,400. The previous day, she met a nurse and her husband with four children who had been given notice because their landlord is selling. “We had a gentlemen go down on his hands and knees in the apartment to cry and beg for a property.” In Waterford, Regina Mangan, of Liberty Blue estate agents, said they cannot even advertise their properties on Daft.ie because they could not cope with the demand.Įven Ireland’s smallest county, Leitrim, is far from immune to the rental crisis Now, she is witnessing landlords turn their backs on the student market because they feel they have more security with other tenants. In March 2020, many students in the city left rentals abruptly, demanding their rent and deposit back. In Limerick, Helen McCormack warns “the seeds that get sown can reap a harvest”. The taxation on private landlords is not comparable to the breaks given to bigger international landlords – the vulture funds we hear all about.” “For most people I meet at viewings, the number one reason they are giving for moving is that the landlord is selling. “It’s very depressing and it’s so hard on tenants to find something,” she said. In Cork, Áine McLoughlin of AML Property Services tells of a “huge amount” of enquiries for every rental and from every demographic.’ “The words ‘landlord’ and ‘tenant’ are very antiquated words – in our literature we try to just call them ‘property owners’ and ‘property occupiers’,” he said. Limerick-based estate agent Helen McCormack

“There’s a misconception out there about landlords and maybe it’s going back to our history but people are almost afraid to admit they have rental property,” he said.

He claimed the Government is not acknowledging the scale or cause of the crisis and believes the problem will not be solved until a strategy is devised to fix it, rather than “demonising” those in the industry and those who are landlords. “I’m in it as a developer selling and as an investor, so I know it from all sides and it gives me no pleasure to be involved in something that’s not working anymore,” he said. In the housing business for more than 40 years, Cork property developer Michael O’Flynn, whose company O’Flynn Group is one of the biggest house builders in the country, said “there are no winners” in the current situation.

Many letting agents blame a “negative perception of landlords” that is leading small-time property owners to exit the market at a time when the need for rental properties has never been as high. ‘Meditation is very important’ – student who got eight H1s endorses the zen approach.Thousands of lonely people with plenty of spare rooms could help solve housing crisis

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