Sherry Fitzgerald: net loss of 43,000 properties in private rental sector

Brendan Burgess

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Private rental sector has lost more than 43,000 properties over past five years

Ireland’s ‘stringent rent controls’ have led investors to seek more favourable markets in recent years, according to Sherry Fitzgerald
www.irishtimes.com

Sherry FitzGerald’s quarterly residential analysis reports a net loss of some 42,300 rental properties owned by private investors from January 2020 to the end of last March.

I have not read the original report yet and while it confirms the overall view of landlords leaving the sector, I thought that there had been CSO(?) evidence to the contrary?
 
Can we try to keep this thread to clarifying the figures?

Previous threads on the issue went off down the usual tracks discussing the reasons why landlords are leaving, if they are. So discuss the legislation in other threads.
 
But many properties accidentally become rental when someone emigrates, goes into a nursing home, etc.

I tend to go with the Census numbers on this rather than industry with a vested interest.
 
Currently, the figures on the rtb website for 2024: 240k private tenancies, 50k Approved housing body tenancies, 36k student specific tenancies.
I don't know the exact questions asked on the census. Does it make the distinction between the type of rentals?
 
Premos said:
Currently, the figures on the rtb website for 2024: 240k private
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Wouldn't believe much of any data from rtb.

Closing a tenancy relies on the landlord logging in and ending the tenancy themselves, most Landlords found/find the rtb website a challenge at the best of time. Would imagine a LL who has sold up would not want any further dealings with it.

A lot of the time you can't even log in or there's some issue with the site, its almost soviet in design.

I know recently they changed it to annual registration but would still be sceptical.
 
Persia said:
Closing a tenancy relies on the landlord logging in and ending the tenancy themselves, most Landlords found/find the rtb website a challenge at the best of time
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The article was comparing the census to the rtb numbers, so found it interesting to look at the latest numbers from the rtb.
While the site was very difficult to navigate when changes were made a couple of years ago, I didn't have any difficulties for basic cancellation/registration the last few times I went on the site. I also received communication about my fee being due (which was new for me). I would think that the yearly registration would help accuracy.
 
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T McGibney said:
The vested interest irony here is that Sherry Fitzgerald are making an absolute fortune from the flood of landlords selling up.
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But they also act as letting agents. Letting a property over a few years would bring in more than selling it once, but I wonder which side of the business is more profitable for them once costs are factored in.
 
Leo said:
But they also act as letting agents. Letting a property over a few years would bring in more than selling it once, but I wonder which side of the business is more profitable for them once costs are factored in.
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Sales by an absolute mile, especially as they charge a %.
 
Leo said:
They charge 12%+VAT on the monthly rental fee for management plus a letting fee for initial letting and change of tenants. Wouldn't take too long for that to exceed the 1-1.5%.
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There is substantially more work involved in managing a letting over a protracted period. Even in the course of the most lucrative sale, an EA is not going to be getting emergency phone calls in the middle of the night from individuals who aren't even their clients.

What this off-topic rabbithole has to do with an alleged vested interest is beyond me.
 
The vested interest was alleged in the first reply to Brendan, so my rebuttal of that was certainly on-topic. As regards the relevance of your counter-query, that's for you to decide.
 
Interestingly, back in 2016, Sherry Fitz were concerned that ".... in the five year period 2011-2015 inclusive .... an estimated 34,000 rental dwellings were taken from the market." So it's a long term trend.



Source https://www.centralbank.ie/docs/def...sions/sherry-fitzgerald.pdf?sfvrsn=b635da1d_2 pages 5, 6.
 
Marsupial said:
".... in the five year period 2011-2015 inclusive .... an estimated 34,000 rental dwellings were taken from the market." So it's a long term trend.
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Absolutely. Landlords have been fleeing the market ever since the late Brian Lenihan started hammering them in 2009 - and rents have risen in tandem.
 
T McGibney said:
The vested interest was alleged in the first reply to Brendan, so my rebuttal of that was certainly on-topic.
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Yes, you pointed out that they had a vested interest in residential sales, I simply offered balance in that they also have a share of the rental letting market where their fees would exceed earning from a sale in less than 3 years.

The numbers of landlords selling represents ~10% of residential sales, I haven't seen anything to suggest that Sherry Fitz have a greater share of this market than what they enjoy in the new build or second hand markets, so while they might be making nice money from landlords exiting, it's quite a leap to suggest they are:
T McGibney said:
making an absolute fortune from the flood of landlords selling up.
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Dr Strangelove said:
They are a big player in sales however, particularly at the high end.
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They have about 14% of the national volume, but they are also the biggest agent in the market with over 100 offices. In Dublin they typically charge a rate 0.5% above the competition, but are quite visible in the new build market. Given that and their focus on the high end, how much of a vested interest in the ex-rental market do they really have I wonder.
 
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