Earlier this month, the Residential Tenancies Board warned of “concerning trends” of rent increases in Galway that needed further investigation.
It announced it is going to probe the issue after two years of rental inflation in Galway city.
In the last 12 months alone – rents in Galway have increased by 12.6% – the average monthly rent in Galway city is now €2,304.
So how are tenants coping with these increases?
Peter O’Connell spoke to people in Galway about their rental experience.
Amble down Shop Street in Galway city day or night and it radiates energy, colour and vibrancy.
It’s a reflection of the broader city, one that thousands of people travel to every year for a taste of the City of the Tribes.
Yet, while Galway is a magnet for tourists from across Ireland and globally, living there presents a wholly more challenging experience.
Why? Purely because the average monthly rent in the city is €2,304. The latest Daft.ie report found that rent in Galway city has increased by 12.6% in the last 12 months.
It gets worse.
Following eight successive quarters of rent increases in Galway, the Residential Tenancies Board has warned of “concerning trends” of rental inflation in the city.
The RTB is to engage directly with renters, landlords and other rental sector stakeholders in the county in June to investigate the trend further.
‘Just not sustainable’
Such is the cost of renting in the city, some people have had to resort to imaginative measures to find somewhere to live at a reasonable cost.
“I’ve been living in a caravan for almost two years,” Jane Windey said.
“I’m really struggling to find anywhere that I can afford.
“Obviously a caravan is not an ideal situation. I also have two cats and it’s very hard to find a home that allows pets.
“I’ve rented a full house in the centre of Bruges for €650. You’re looking at a single room [in Galway] for €600 to €700 a month. That’s just not sustainable for me,” she said of rental costs in Galway, adding that many of her peers are similarly impacted.
“I don’t necessarily know anyone else who is living out of a caravan, but I know people who sometimes have to live out of their cars. I know loads of people that have to move back home, and they are people in their 30s and 40s.”
Five years ago, Kathryn Reynolds returned to Galway from Spain and since then has lived in several rental properties.
“When I came back in 2020, I was paying €800 [per month] and then I went to €600 when I was sharing with six other people.
“In another place we were splitting €1,100 between two people which went up to €1,300 about three months later,” she outlined.
“Then the landlord tried to increase it again to about €1,500, which is when we had to go to the RTB for some support because it just wasn’t ok.
“Currently I pay €700 [per month] and that’s for a room in a shared house.”
CEO of Galway Simon Karen Golden says that rental costs have skyrocketed in recent years.
“In Galway city between 2020 and 2025 we have seen a 75% increase [in monthly rent]. There are very few people whose net household income has increased by 75%.
“For people in the private rental sector there is more and more pressure on household income and higher percentages of household income are being spent on rent,” Ms Golden said.
It’s not just Galway city that has been impacted by a scarcity of rental options. Sharon Goldie lives in temporary accommodation in Loughrea with her now 18-year-old son.
“For the last five years I have been living in temporary accommodation. We moved from Galway city because our landlord was selling the property we were in.
“Now we’re in a four-bedroom temporary accommodation. Myself and my son only have a room each in this house,” she said, adding that her son has been impacted by the lack of space.
“My son is autistic. He just deserves better. He was a really outgoing kind of boy when we moved in there. He has just gone into himself. He doesn’t want to go out much anymore. He has lost his motivation.
“I think what people don’t understand is that being in temporary accommodation and going through what we’re going through, it really does affect your mental health. It changes you as a person.”
‘We have a crisis at all ends’
Don Colleran is an auctioneer based in Eyre Square and has found that all generations are caught up in the spiraling rental crisis.
“I’m coming across a lot of people coming close to retirement. For whatever reason they would have lost their house through maybe the crash or through separation.
“They have been well able to pay €2,500 to €3,000 rent but now they’re retiring, and the properties aren’t there, and they can’t afford to meet the rent.
“We have a crisis at all ends. We have a crisis for first-time buyers, and we have a crisis for people who are now retiring and are finding it difficult to find rented properties or properties to buy.
“Also, the reality for most young couples is that their mortgage repayments would be less than their rental repayments and they would have something to show for it at the end of their term.
‘The situation is dire’
Cáit Ní Gliasáin is co-chair of the Galway branch of CATU, which is a union for tenants.
She hears many stories of primarily young people struggling to find a place to live in Galway city.
“If you work full-time on minimum wage your monthly income is less than the average wage. The situation is dire, and rents need to come down,” she maintains.
Fifteen years ago, Tracey [not her real name] moved to south Galway. At that stage finding a place to rent was very straightforward.
“When I first moved, I had the choice. I found a place quite easily, did a deal with the landlord and it was great.
“Over the course of eight to 10 years things changed rapidly. I was still in a good situation but when the landlord came to me and said he was selling the house, having been there for 10 years, I was panicked.
“You don’t know when you’re going to have to do it all again, pack everything up and find somewhere new.
“Very few landlords anywhere in the country are willing to rent long-term for up to five years.
“You can’t make a plan and as a mother there’s nothing more unsettling than not knowing where you’re going to be,” Tracey reflected.
