One in four renters in South Dublin and Fingal spend over half their income on housing

Renters in South Dublin and Fingal are paying more than half of their disposable income on housing, according to a new report from the Central Statistics Office. The agency analyzed data from 2024 across all 31 local authority areas in Ireland. It found that 26 percent of private sector tenants in South Dublin spent at least 50 percent of their disposable income on rent. The same figure was 25 percent for tenants in Fingal, Wicklow, and Louth.

The report indicated that these four areas faced the highest rent burdens in the country. In contrast, only 18 percent of private tenants in Leitrim spent more than 40 percent of their income on rent. Other areas, including Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Galway City, Carlow, and Meath, saw between a fifth and a quarter of tenants facing similar costs.

When looking at the threshold of spending 40 percent of income on rent, the figures remained high in the southeastern region. Thirty-four percent of all private tenants in South Dublin met this criterion. Fingal, Louth, and Wicklow each recorded 33 percent of tenants spending that proportion of their income on rent.

The data reveals distinct demographic patterns among those renting from private landlords. The median age of private market renters was 34 in 2024. Most of these tenants were young adults, with 68 percent aged between 25 and 44. Another 21 percent were between 45 and 65, and only 3 percent were over 65.

Landlords in the private sector skew older than their tenants. The majority of landlords were aged between 50 and 64. One-third of landlords were over the age of 65. Income sources also varied significantly between tenants and landlords. Employee income was the primary source of income for 73 percent of private tenants. Social welfare payments, excluding pensions, were the main source for 16 percent of tenants, while self-employed income was the primary source for 5 percent.

Financial data shows that 62 percent of landlords had total gross income from all sources of less than €60,000 in 2024. At the top of the distribution, 4 percent of landlords reported total gross income exceeding €200,000. The most common employment sector for individual landlords was financial and real estate activities, accounting for 39 percent. Construction was the next most common sector at 15 percent.

These findings align with other recent market data. A report by property website Daft suggests the average market rent for a two-bedroom apartment nationwide is currently €2,204 per month. In Dublin, that figure rises to €2,634 per month. Census 2022 data indicates that more than 880,000 people live in households renting from private landlords. More than 75,000 people live in households renting from a voluntary body.