Rent rises: 'Unaffordable' rises pricing renters out of market

Courtney Sullivan with her two sons Leo and Logan

A Belfast mother has said she is facing homelessness due to rental costs as new data indicated that average private rent in NI had gone up by more than 10% in the year to January.

Courtney Sullivan said renting in Belfast had become unaffordable.

"Everything seems like it's out of your control," she said.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was the highest annual rise since it began collecting data in 2016.

Ms Sullivan has been renting her home in Ardoyne, north Belfast, for seven years with her two young sons.

Her rent was increased earlier in the year and the property was then listed for sale.

She told BBC News NI that the homes that are available to rent in Belfast are asking for more than she can pay.

Ms Sullivan said she went to the Housing Executive to find an affordable home for her family but that the closest homes it offered her were in Londonderry and Omagh.

"But my life is here in Ardoyne - my job, friends and my son's school and he has made a life here too," she added.

"It makes you feel like a bad mummy."

What does the latest rent figures data say?

Between 2016 and 2020, private rent in Northern Ireland was rising by about 2% a year, but that has increased sharply since 2021 according to the ONS.

Private rent in Scotland saw the biggest increase in the year to January, up by 11.2%.

The 2021 census suggests that just over 17% of NI households are private renters.

That is equivalent to about 307,000 people across about 132,000 households.

Separate research published by the PropertyPal website earlier this year suggested the average private rent across all properties at the end of 2023 was £830 per month.

Jordan Buchanan, the chief operating officer at PropertyPal said: "Rental market pressures remain at highly elevated levels.

"On average, there have been 75 enquiries per advertised rental on PropertyPal over the last three months of 2023, compared to a more typical 20 per property seen in the 2017-2019 period."

Eamonn Russell

'Squeezing people out'

Student Eamonn Russell told BBC News NI the cost of rent for his room near Queen's University is rising by £100 next year.

"People are just having to put up with it, because it's not like we're exactly spoilt for choice here, they're hard to get," he said.

"There's such a push for purpose-built student accommodation as a better alternative now, but it costs an arm and a leg and makes no financial sense for most people.

"It feels like they're squeezing people out of the rental market."

Students Chloe and Amber both said their rent has almost doubled since they started at University three years ago

Students Chloe and Amber said young people are often forced to pay high prices for poorly-equipped accommodation.

"Belfast used to be a place people considered to be pretty cheap for renting in comparison," said Amber.

Her rent for a single room in a house in south Belfast was £335, but will rise to £375 next year.

Chloe said the increasing cost of rent is "ridiculous".

"People are looking online at rental properties and just accepting such high prices for run-down houses in student areas because they have to," she added.