A new nationwide rent index of all private accommodation in Ireland has been launched this week with the help of Galway company Vulcan Solutions.
Creators of industry-leading software systems, Vulcan Solutions have worked with the Private Residential Tenancies Board to define its data requirements for the index, and to make that data available for analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The new National Rent index, based on its register of 277,000 private tenancies in Ireland, reveals the actual rents being paid for properties rather than the asking rents that feature in other surveys.
"This index takes the speculation and surmise out of renting," says Ann Marie Caulfield, the director of the PRTB. "All our data is based on actual rents being paid for private accommodation right across the country, and this is very valuable information for all stakeholders concerned.”
The index was officially launched by the Minister for Housing and Planning, Jan O'Sullivan, who said the index would be a valuable resource for tenants, landlords and those working with policy in the sector.
“Vulcan Solutions, based in Galway, have worked with the PRTB over the past number of years in its ongoing investment in the computerisation of all the key PRTB functions,” she said.
The new national index shows that rents rose by two per cent in the first three months of this year compared to the same time last year. The rent index will be updated and published every three months.
