Work in Ireland

How to Rent a Home in Ireland

Renting somewhere to live in Ireland is very much like the UK – so if you are moving here from the UK, the system of renting will not be unfamiliar to you. Most rentals are for furnished property and it is harder and rare to find unfurnished property.

However if you are moving to Ireland from anywhere else in Europe you may find the lack of regulation around renting disconcerting. Most rentals here last for one year initially. So you sign a contract to rent and pay for the house or apartment for one year – after that year most landlords just let it run on. This means there is no further agreement for any fixed period of time and the landlord can ask you to move out at any time for any reason or no reason giving you only 30 days notice. It also means that you can also give the landlord 30 days notice and leave. (There is legislation that is supposed to change this, see Threshold)
Where to rent?

If you are staying in Dublin there is a guide to all the suburbs of Dublin on this website you will find it under Dublin Northside and Dublin Southside.

• Required Documents to Rent
• Photo id – normally passport.
• Bank reference
• Letter from your employer

Rentals are paid in advance with normally one months notice. If a landlord wants more than 1 months’ rent as a deposit beware – it is very unusual to ask for more than one months’ rent for the deposit and I have never come across this. There are sometimes problems getting the deposit back from landlords after you leave.

There is almost no regulation and there is no government body that you can complain to regarding your landlord. There is almost no protection within Irish law when you rent. A landlord can increase the rent by any amount at the end of the first year, though most are okay and do not increase the rent at all or have very modest increases if you have been a good tenant and paid your rent on time.

Renting if your are Single

Most people who move to Ireland at present are single or not married. Most do not have a job when they first arrive and also need somewhere to live. Single people commonly live in hostels when they first arrive; there are quite a few around the city. If you know someone who is already living here before you come that is a better situation. Most single people will live in shared accommodation – that is sharing a house or flat with others. The cost range from about €350 to €650 per month in Dublin, and will be cheaper outside of Dublin.

Rent with your Family

The more you can pay for a family house the better. The more you pay the better the area and therefore the better schools for your children. (See schools section) The cost of a two bedroom apartment or house, in Dublin, will start about €1300 – for a nice three or four bedroom in a good area budget for at least €1800 - €2000 per month.

Where to Find a House

There are two main areas where houses, apartments, and shared accommodation are advertised. The website daft.ie is the biggest resource, after that the Evening Herald and Irish Independent have adverts everyday in their newspapers.

There are agencies that charge a registration fee to find you somewhere to live – these types of services should be avoided and only used as a last resort, my experience with them has never been good.

Resources

Threshold - http://www.threshold.ie/ a government funded body that will give advice and try to settle disputes with landlords. They have a guide to renting on their website which you can download and is also in several languages.

Daft.ie - http://www.daft.ie/ the largest resource for finding rental property of all types.

There is tax rent relief, information can be found from the Revenue Service http://www.revenue.ie

If you think there is Irish information that should be added to this page please add it below - thanks.

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