Private rents increased by 0.3% in July 2012 – the first monthly increase in four months – and over the past year, such rents are up by 2% according to the Central Statistics Office.
The figures were revealed as part of the CSO’s release of inflation figures.
It showed that since the start of 2011 there has been a 3.9% increase in rental costs. The increase in July comes as a surprise, however, as traditionally rents have tended to fall in line with rent allowance.
The figures also revealed that housing has stopped being the biggest driver of annual inflation, due mainly to falling mortgage costs.
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Mortgage costs have fallen by 9.8% in the past year.
